Predicting the 53-man roster

[adam]

7 hours ago, AZ54 said:

I don't like our backup safeties but DHC was bad in coverage and was already surpassed on special teams by guys like Velus Jones and Blackwell on kick coverage.  His ship has sailed we need to be trying out younger guys searching for upside.     

Fair enough, but even last year he was 2nd on the team in ST tackles. I am good with giving young guys a shot.

[adam]

15 hours ago, adam said:

So it looks like the 53-man is going to come down to who OL9 is (Kramer right now), whether they are going to run with 5 DEs, 5 DTs, or 6 LBs, can only have 15 from those 3 groups.  If they roll with 6x LBs, the last DL spot will be either Lewis (Edge) or Bell (DT). If they roll with 5 LBs, they can have a 5 DTs and 5 DEs, but Special Teams would be thin. Lastly, CB6 is Jaylon Jones and S4 is AJ Thomas.

Those are the 4 fluid positions, OL9, DE5/DT5/LB6, CB6, and S4. So technically 1 spot on offense and 3 on defense. I really don't see very much other movement unless ESB or Velus are cut for a better WR6. 

Obviously injuries will play a huge role in all of this. However, at the end of the day the guys and slots I listed above will have less than 1% impact on the team's overall performance.

Feeney seems like the OL9 acquisition. Now let's see if there is movement in DE/DT/LB, CB, S, or even WR. 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Coming out of the gate slow today but there’s this about Vildor and his potential of being on the bubble(no real shock).
 https://x.com/bradbiggs/status/1696513617833701615?s=46&t=KrpJmhSTc4DI1sACtjisOQ

[adam]

1 minute ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Coming out of the gate slow today but there’s this about Vildor and his potential of being on the bubble(no real shock).
 https://x.com/bradbiggs/status/1696513617833701615?s=46&t=KrpJmhSTc4DI1sACtjisOQ

Oh yeah, he gone for sure. If they release him and Gipson, they save $5.4M on the cap, and Feeney was just over $1M cap hit, so they will still have $4.4M added to the cap 

[adam]

If we are looking for a vet Safety, Eric Rowe was released, a former 2nd round pick:

 

[adam]

Ebner and Collins waived. Ebner was expected with the acquisition of Homer. 

[adam]

I feel like there are 4-5 fluid positions left.

1. DE5/DT5/LB6 - Lewis/Bell/Walker (keep 1), the Bears will only have 15 in the front 7, so that will either be 5 DE, 5 DT, or 6 LB. Special Teams will probably play a role, which means Walker at LB may have the edge over the other two.
2. S4 - AJ Thomas - I feel like this position is interchangeable as long as the guy is a core STer.
3. CB6 - Jaylon Jones - Another one of those main ST slots
4. WR6 - Velus/ESB - the Bears may go with a more proven punt returner like Trent Taylor (89 punt returns, 0 fumbles), which would replace Velus, or if there is an actual upgrade at WR, may replace ESB.
5. OL9 - Patrick/Carter/Feeney/Kramer (depending on injuries and other veteran acquisitions, they could keep all 4 if Jenkins goes on IR), but the bottom of this group could be switched out on the waiver wire. 

 

[DABEARSDABOMB]

45 minutes ago, adam said:

Ebner and Collins waived. Ebner was expected with the acquisition of Homer. 

Again - Poles has made his mistakes, but I like the fact that he doesn't seem to just stick to a guy because he brought him in. Ebner clearly didn't have "it" - they moved on.  I like that candor and ability to be objective from a roster perspective. 

[adam]

11 minutes ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

Again - Poles has made his mistakes, but I like the fact that he doesn't seem to just stick to a guy because he brought him in. Ebner clearly didn't have "it" - they moved on.  I like that candor and ability to be objective from a roster perspective. 

All the good teams operate that way, and also get rid of players before they decline, sometimes earlier than expected.

 

Bears waive Bell, so it seems that last front 7 spot is up to Lewis (DE5) or Walker (LB6) or a waiver acquisition.

 

 

[Mongo3451]

Terrell Lewis should make the team.  He was effective in all of the preseason games.

[adam]

7 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

Terrell Lewis should make the team.  He was effective in all of the preseason games.

 I like him too, he seemed to be miscast in previous teams. 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

2 hours ago, Mongo3451 said:

Terrell Lewis should make the team.  He was effective in all of the preseason games.

For me it comes down to he and Gipson at this point.  I personally think they're interchangeable.  Gipson (IMHO) has reached his ceiling whereas (as Adam mentioned) Lewis still has some space to go.  And throw in that Gipson has some 'actual NFL tape', performed well during the preseason and is being considered as a trading chip, he has more value in being traded now rather than later.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Welp, so much for the Trevis Gipson trade scenario.  And Vildor moving on.  
 

https://x.com/chisportupdates/status/1696626551985434958?s=46&t=KrpJmhSTc4DI1sACtjisOQ

[BearFan PHX]

Velus made the team, for now.

Speed sure does buy you a lot of second chances in other areas.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

20 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

Velus made the team, for now.

Speed sure does buy you a lot of second chances in other areas.

Yeah I've seen discussions elsewhere that suggested Tyler Scott would be a good alternative to Mooney should he be traded.  Considering his rather dubious preseason, his speed probably is what helps him stick around.  

[adam]

5 hours ago, adam said:

I feel like there are 4-5 fluid positions left.

1. DE5/DT5/LB6 - Lewis/Bell/Walker (keep 1), the Bears will only have 15 in the front 7, so that will either be 5 DE, 5 DT, or 6 LB. Special Teams will probably play a role, which means Walker at LB may have the edge over the other two.
2. S4 - AJ Thomas - I feel like this position is interchangeable as long as the guy is a core STer.
3. CB6 - Jaylon Jones - Another one of those main ST slots
4. WR6 - Velus/ESB - the Bears may go with a more proven punt returner like Trent Taylor (89 punt returns, 0 fumbles), which would replace Velus, or if there is an actual upgrade at WR, may replace ESB.
5. OL9 - Patrick/Carter/Feeney/Kramer (depending on injuries and other veteran acquisitions, they could keep all 4 if Jenkins goes on IR), but the bottom of this group could be switched out on the waiver wire. 

 

This held serve pretty much, they went with Lewis over Bell and Walker. Thomas, Jones, ESB, Velus all made it. Patrick, Carter, and Kramer too. 

[adam]

How much have the Bears improved their roster from last year? By at least 30%. 

Check this out:

18x players from last year's initial 53-man roster are no longer on ANY NFL roster: 

O - (7) Siemian, Ebner, Tonges, Griffin, Pettis, Mustipher, Leatherwood
D - (11) Quinn, Gipson, Muhammad, Blackson, Pennel, Morrow, Weatherford, Vildor, Jackson, DHC, Cruikshank

Obviously that will change with Gipson, and probably Vildor too, but that still leaves 30% of last year's roster was not good enough to even make a roster this year. That is pretty remarkable. 

 

[adam]

Thoughts on Packers 53-man?

QB - Love, Clifford
RB - Jones, Dillon, Wilson
WR - Watson, Doubs, Reed, Toure, Wicks, Heath
TE - Mugrave, Kraft, Deguara
OL - Bakhtiari, Jenkins, Myers, Runyan, Tom, Nijman, Walker, Newman, Rhyan, Jones
DL - Clark, Slaton, Wyatt, Ford, Wooden, Brooks
OLB - Gary, Smith, Enagbare, Hollins, Van Ness, Cox
ILB - Campbell, Walker, McDuffie, Wilson, Carpenter
CB - Alexander, Douglas, Nixon, Valentine
S - Savage, Ford, Owens, Leavitt, Johnson

They are basically one or two injuries away from 5 or less wins. Only 4 CBs? 3 RBs? Depth looks weak. Guys that wouldn't make the Bears at their current position: Clifford, Wilson, Toure, Wicks, Heath, Deguara, Newman, Rhyan, Jones, Ford, Wooden, Brooks, Enagbare, Hollins, Cox, McDuffie, Wilson, Carpenter, Nixon, Valentine, Owens, Leavitt, Johnson.

 

[AZ54]

I can't believe we're keeping 10 OL, 2 or 3 of which are backup Centers.  Is that really just because of injuries?  Among starters only Teven Jenkins is affected and we slid Whitehair over to cover leaving 3 players competing to play at Center?  There is time to move Carter back to LG and put Whitehair (if he can snap) back at C.  Maybe we'll have to wait until they see what they've got in the Feeney.  Last year felt different when we tried to hang onto a couple developmental players but at best that'd be Kramer.  I don't think they're that high on Kramer or IMO they'd just cut Patrick especially now with Feeney on board.   

We have 4 DTs and 5 DEs.  Two of the DEs can potentially move inside but Rasheem Green looked bad against the run on the edges.  I can't see him being any better inside.  That leaves just Walker as the only legit Edge who can slide inside but we have little depth at DE and can't afford to wear him down  on too many plays inside.  

To me it feels like there is another move pending that will knock down the Oline to 9.  It might be as simple as one of them goes on IR (Patrick?) with a designation to return.  

 

[ASHKUM BEAR]

14 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

I can't believe we're keeping 10 OL, 2 or 3 of which are backup Centers.  Is that really just because of injuries?  Among starters only Teven Jenkins is affected and we slid Whitehair over to cover leaving 3 players competing to play at Center?  There is time to move Carter back to LG and put Whitehair (if he can snap) back at C.  Maybe we'll have to wait until they see what they've got in the Feeney.  Last year felt different when we tried to hang onto a couple developmental players but at best that'd be Kramer.  I don't think they're that high on Kramer or IMO they'd just cut Patrick especially now with Feeney on board.   

We have 4 DTs and 5 DEs.  Two of the DEs can potentially move inside but Rasheem Green looked bad against the run on the edges.  I can't see him being any better inside.  That leaves just Walker as the only legit Edge who can slide inside but we have little depth at DE and can't afford to wear him down  on too many plays inside.  

To me it feels like there is another move pending that will knock down the Oline to 9.  It might be as simple as one of them goes on IR (Patrick?) with a designation to return.  

 

From reports I've heard, Whitehairs right hand will be an issue and he won't be snapping with it for a while if it heals    My guess is Jenkins goes to IR and sits 4 games too.  Kramers snapping right hand was wrapped after leaving the game, so he might go to IR too.  Last year Patrick broke his right hand, he is almost ready to go now, so Center is Patrick or Feeny as of now.  

My question is what are they teaching the Centers to do to jeopardize their snapping hand?  

[ASHKUM BEAR]

31 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

I can't believe we're keeping 10 OL, 2 or 3 of which are backup Centers.  Is that really just because of injuries?  Among starters only Teven Jenkins is affected and we slid Whitehair over to cover leaving 3 players competing to play at Center?  There is time to move Carter back to LG and put Whitehair (if he can snap) back at C.  Maybe we'll have to wait until they see what they've got in the Feeney.  Last year felt different when we tried to hang onto a couple developmental players but at best that'd be Kramer.  I don't think they're that high on Kramer or IMO they'd just cut Patrick especially now with Feeney on board.   

We have 4 DTs and 5 DEs.  Two of the DEs can potentially move inside but Rasheem Green looked bad against the run on the edges.  I can't see him being any better inside.  That leaves just Walker as the only legit Edge who can slide inside but we have little depth at DE and can't afford to wear him down  on too many plays inside.  

To me it feels like there is another move pending that will knock down the Oline to 9.  It might be as simple as one of them goes on IR (Patrick?) with a designation to return.  

 

The Bears have been running Dexter and Pickens at 3T at the same time.  This makes the oline have to choose which one to double.  I recall hearing the Bears have also lined them up outside, so maybe they get occasional snaps outside in jumbo packages. They also wanted Justin Jones to get snaps at DE last season at the end of the year.  I think the d line will be flexible with many looks 

[adam]

6 hours ago, AZ54 said:

I can't believe we're keeping 10 OL, 2 or 3 of which are backup Centers.  Is that really just because of injuries?  Among starters only Teven Jenkins is affected and we slid Whitehair over to cover leaving 3 players competing to play at Center?  There is time to move Carter back to LG and put Whitehair (if he can snap) back at C.  Maybe we'll have to wait until they see what they've got in the Feeney.  Last year felt different when we tried to hang onto a couple developmental players but at best that'd be Kramer.  I don't think they're that high on Kramer or IMO they'd just cut Patrick especially now with Feeney on board.   

We have 4 DTs and 5 DEs.  Two of the DEs can potentially move inside but Rasheem Green looked bad against the run on the edges.  I can't see him being any better inside.  That leaves just Walker as the only legit Edge who can slide inside but we have little depth at DE and can't afford to wear him down  on too many plays inside.  

To me it feels like there is another move pending that will knock down the Oline to 9.  It might be as simple as one of them goes on IR (Patrick?) with a designation to return.  

 

I think Poles has a few moves left. Flus said the only one who was week to week was Jenkins though, but IR is 4 games. It would seem like they don't want him on IR, thus that is why they kept an extra OL. If Jenkins was going to IR, they would just add someone after putting him on there. 

Green has not looked good at all, I would not be surprised if he is DE5 behind Lewis and DRob.

[ASHKUM BEAR]

46 minutes ago, adam said:

I think Poles has a few moves left. Flus said the only one who was week to week was Jenkins though, but IR is 4 games. It would seem like they don't want him on IR, thus that is why they kept an extra OL. If Jenkins was going to IR, they would just add someone after putting him on there. 

Green has not looked good at all, I would not be surprised if he is DE5 behind Lewis and DRob.

I am thinking they move guys today to IR if we add anyone that was waived. 

[adam]

Lewis waived, they can have the pick of the litter. Let see what Poles is cooking up. More than likely a PR, OL, CB, or even a TE (Getsy like 12 personnel).

 

 

[adam]

That was quick:

Khalid Kareem, Edge from the Colts. Is he better than Lewis or Gipson?