The Chicago Bears are in a difficult spot like every other team. COVID-19 has completely thrown NFL offseason traditions into a buzzsaw. Virus concerns have already seen minicamps and OTAs removed. Now it appears the league is ready to accept demands from players to completely cut the preseason. While that may be great news for veterans. It’s an absolute nightmare for late-round draft picks and especially undrafted free agents.
Typically an NFL team is able to use the preseason as a great evaluation tool for the bottom half of their roster. That is where most of the young players on the roster dwell. Those who are fighting to earn a roster spot. So what exactly are they supposed to do without those games to help their cause? In a season where players could lose multiple weeks if infected, belief is teams may lean more heavily on experienced players at the bottom of rosters as insurance.
That means a lot of rookies could find their way onto the street without work. Way more than normal. People will say training camp practices can be just as good of a tool are wrong. The majority of reps go to first and second-team players. Guys who are starters and primary backups. Third-team players don’t get a ton of action, which is why the preseason is so crucial for them.
Now that avenue is gone. Translation? Bears fans better not get too attached to any notable late-round picks or undrafted free agents this year.
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Bears undrafted free agents would have to make a huge impression
In total, the Bears signed 11 undrafted players back in the spring. Back then people were comfortable predicting maybe two or three of them had a legitimate shot to make the final roster. Those odds are now drastically lower. Nobody stands out as a guy they absolutely have to ensure doesn’t get away. Ledarius Mack has name value but not much else. Dieter Eiselen and Trevon McSwain seem to have significant upside but face stiff competition.
In truth, the only position that could see some action is running back. David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen are locks. However, only Ryan Nall stands between rookies Napoleon Maxwell and Artavis Pierce for a spot. Aside from that? It’s a tall mountain to climb. Unless somebody just explodes during practice and can’t be ignored, don’t bank on anybody avoiding the ax.
The best hope for these kids is that the NFL will follow through on their proposed plan to expand practice squad. Belief is it could go as high as 20 players. So that offers at least some hope their dreams of pro football won’t die so swiftly.
