The Chicago Bears open training camp on July 27 on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois. Here’s our post-minicamp projection for the 53-man roster.
QUARTERBACK (2): Mitchell Trubisky, Chase Daniel
Coach Matt Nagy kept two quarterbacks on the active roster last season. The Bears stashed veteran Tyler Bray on the practice squad. Bray still figures to stick around in some capacity.
RUNNING BACK (4): Tarik Cohen, Mike Davis, David Montgomery, Ryan Nall
Chicago invested at running back in the offseason by signing Davis in free agency and drafting Montgomery in the third round out of Iowa State. The Bears believe those moves will offset the losses of Jordan Howard and Benny Cunningham. The team moved Taquan Mizzell to wide receiver in the offseason, opening the door for Nall to make the squad as the fourth running back.
WIDE RECEIVER (6): Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Anthony Miller, Cordarrelle Patterson, Riley Ridley, Javon Wims
Barring preseason injuries, the Bears can easily justify having six receivers on the 53-man roster. The top five are locks, and Wims, a former seventh-round choice out of Georgia, has too much raw ability (6-foot-4, 215 pounds) for them to give up on him after only one year.
TIGHT END (4): Trey Burton, Adam Shaheen, Bradley Sowell, Ben Braunecker
Shaheen, a former second-round pick, is entering an important year, but he doesn’t appear to be in roster jeopardy. Sowell is a terrific athlete whom the club moved from offensive line to tight end. The Bears expect the move to be permanent, according to Nagy. The organization is hopeful that Burton is ready for training camp after he underwent sports hernia surgery in the offseason.
OFFENSIVE LINE (9): Charles Leno Jr., Bobby Massie, Kyle Long, Cody Whitehair, James Daniels, Rashaad Coward, Ted Larsen, Cornelius Lucas, T.J. Clemmings
The starting five are set with Daniels (center) and Whitehair (left guard) swapping spots along the interior of the line. The question is how many reserves the Bears will keep. Last year, the club had eight offensive linemen on the 53-man roster. Veterans Larsen, Lucas and Clemmings are expected to battle it out for the final reserve roles.
DEFENSIVE LINE (6): Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Bilal Nichols, Roy Robertson-Harris, Jonathan Bullard, Nick Williams
Hicks has emerged as one of the top defensive linemen in the conference. Goldman took a big step last year by starting all 16 games for the first time in his career. The Bears think Nichols can be impactful up front. Nichols appeared in 14 games (six starts) last season as a fifth-round pick out of Delaware, the alma mater of Nagy.
LINEBACKERS (9): Khalil Mack, Danny Trevathan, Roquan Smith, Leonard Floyd, Aaron Lynch, Joel Iyiegbuniwe, Nick Kwiatkoski, Isaiah Irving, Kylie Fitts
The Bears have few holes at linebacker. Mack is one of the league’s dominant pass-rushers. Smith should be even better as a second-year player after missing almost all of training camp as a rookie because of injuries and a contract dispute. Smith attended the entire offseason program this past spring. Trevathan is in a contract year.
DEFENSIVE BACKS (10): Kyle Fuller, Prince Amukamara, Eddie Jackson, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Buster Skrine, Sherrick McManis, Deon Bush, Duke Shelley, Kevin Toliver, DeAndre Houston-Carson
Rookie Stephen Denmark is another intriguing prospect at 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, but it’s hard to project a seventh-round pick cracking the 53-man roster, though Wims managed to last year at wide receiver. Perhaps Denmark is a candidate for the practice squad. The Bears could trim the number to nine defensive backs if they suffer injuries at other positions.
SPECIALISTS (3): Eddy Pineiro, Pat O'Donnell, Patrick Scales
Let’s just say kicker is very fluid. The Bears have Pineiro and Elliott Fry under contract, but they could have a different option by Week 1. Stay tuned.