On Saturday morning, the Chicago Bears officially kicked off training camp ahead of what could be a franchise-altering 2024 season. With all of the pieces in place for the Bears to return to the postseason for the first time since 2020, expectations haven't been this high in Chicago for quite some time. However, just because the state of the Bears roster is in a much, muchbetter place than it has been over each of the past few seasons, that doesn't mean that everything has been settled in Lake Forest, Illinois.
Below are four (well, really five) position battles that still need to be sorted out before the Bears kick their season off with a home game against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday September 8th. And to make matters even more exciting for Bears fans, we'll be ableable to watch as the following four (well, five) position battles play out on Hard Knocksas Chicago makes their first ever appearance on HBO's behind-the-scenes look at an NFL franchise as they prepare for the start of the regular season.
Backup Running Back
The Candidates:Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson
With the signing of D'Andre Swift right as free agency began, the Bears starting running back job was officially no longer in doubt. Who it is that ends up getting the majority of the snaps in relief of Swift, however, is still very much up in the air. Khalil Herbert entered last season as the Bears lead back, and for the second consecutive year rushed for at least 4.5 yards per carry. But with just one year left on his contract and the Bears unlikely to re-sign him, the fourth-year back has been the subject of trade rumorsfor the better part of the offseason. That might have just as much to do with Roschon Johnson as it does D'Andre Swift.
Roschon Johnson, who backed up Bijan Robinson at Texas, was a 4th Round pick of the Bears in the 2023 NFL Draft. From the moment Chicago made the pick official, you heard everyone within the organization raving about the character and work ethic of the seldom-used Longhorns back-up. In his first NFL season, Johnson proved to be a reliable rotation back, rushing for 352 yards on 81 carries, and making his presence felt in the passing game, not just as a pass-catcher (34 receptions for 209 yards), but also as a blocking back. Bears running backs coach Chad Morton offered the following praise for Johnson recently, according to Nicholas Moreano of CHGO:
“He’s really good. He’s excellent. He’s been like that since college. He’s going to help us out here on third downs, even first and second, every down. His pass protection is unbelievable.”
Khalil Herbert is the better pure runner of the two, but with Swift likely to receive the bulk of the carries, that could open the door for Roschon Johnson to surpass him in the pecking order. And if that's the case, don't be surprised if the Bears shop Herbert before the regular season begins.
Kick Returner
The Candidates:Velus Jones Jr., DeAndre Carter, Dante Pettis, Freddie Swain, Rome Odunze
The position battle in Chicago with the most at stake will be in determining who returns kicks and punts throughout the 2024 season, and for Jones, Carter, Pettis and Swain, it could mean a roster spot is on the line as well. The wild care here is the rookie out of Washington. Rome Odunze's spot as the number three receiver is secure, but the Bears have toyed with the idea of Odunze returning punts too. Assuming Matt Eberflus and the rest of the coaching staff wants to limit what they're putting on Odunze's plate during his first NFL season, that leaves these four bubble receivers as the candidates for not only the job as a return specialist, but for the 5th and 6th receiver spots too.
Velus Jones Jr. was part of Ryan Poles' first Bears draft class just two years ago, so loyalty might end up playing a role in whether or not Jones ends up being a somewhat surprising cut. But Jones was has made practically no impact as a pass-catcher, and was spotty enough as the return man for the Bears last year that former Bengals wide receiver Trent Taylor was brought in to shore up the position. With Taylor off to San Francisco, the Bears signed Dante Pettis, DeAndre Carter, andFreddie Swainto provide Jones competition for the job.
Dante Pettis has the most familiarity with the Bears, and DeAndre Carter has the most NFL experience, but Freddie Swain is the dark horse candidate here. Not only did Swain return punts at Florida and in the NFL, but with the Seattle Seahawks, he spent multiple seasons in an offense crafted by new Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. That connection could give Swain the inside track to a roster spot, but ultimately, who is returning kicks and punts for Chicago this season will be determined by summer performance.
Interior Offensive Line
The Candidates:Coleman Shelton, Ryan Bates, Nate Davis, Doug Kramer
As things stand right now, three spots along the Bears offensive line are settled: Darnell Wright at right tackle, Braxton Jones at left tackle, and Teven Jenkins at left guard. That means center and right guard will both be in play throughout July and August, and getting those two spots settled will be consequential to the development of Caleb Williams. Nearly every decision that Ryan Poles and the Bears have made this offseason has been geared toward giving Williams the cushiest situation imaginable to walk in to. He has weapons aplenty, a competent offensive coordinator, and a defense that should be good enough to give the Bears short fields to work with. Solidifying a dependable offensive line is the last step.
The best case scenario of how all of this works out: Either Ryan Bates or Coleman Shelton wins the starting center job outright, and Nate Davis finally gets himself on the field with some degree of consistency and earns the job as the starter at right guard. If that group can stay healthy and if the young starters — Wright, Jones and Jenkins — continue to develop, there's a world in which the season could end and we could feel like this is one of the dozen or so best offensive lines in the league.
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The worst case scenario is far more grim: Neither Bates or Shelton separate themselves from the pack. Nate Davis continues to miss time, which means we're getting a whole lot more of Doug Kramer than anyone anticipates. Injuries continue to plague both Jones and Jenkins, Caleb Williams is battered behind an offensive line that was supposed to take a step forward in 2024, and then suddenly, my autumn has been ruined.
Defensive End
The Candidates:DeMarcus Walker, Austin Booker, Khalid Kareem, Dominique Robinson
At the start of training camp, Ryan Poles was quick to clarify that he doesn't believe the Bears have a defensive end problem, but that doesn't mean they have an answer yet either. On one side of the defensive line will be Montez Sweat, a trade deadline pick-up last year whose arrival in Chicago coincided with the Bears second-half ascension to become one of the league's most destructive defense. But who ends starting opposite Sweat will be determined over the next month.
DeMarcus Walker is the clubhouse favorite, coming off of a season in which he started twelve games for the Bears. But with only 3.5 sacks and 30 tackles, Walker left a lot to be desired, especially for a team that now has legitimate postseason expectations. That opens the door for Austin Booker, a 5th Round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, to come away with the job by the time September rolls around. Booker has the make-up of a starting edge rusher. He's got a relentless motor and produced at a desirable clip while at Kansas. He'll need to add some weight and polish before he's even close to being a finished product.
The two other primary options are Khalid Kareem, a fifth-year journeyman who missed nearly the entire 2023 season with a hip injury, and Dominique Robinson, a raw third-year project who notched 1.5 sacks in his first career game in 2022, but has only added a half-of-a-sack since then. Needless to say, everyone in Chicago is hoping that Austin Booker shows enough promise over the next few weeks to come away with the job.
