Bears stock watch: QBs trending down, CBs trending up
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The Bears finished preseason practices without a “clear-cut” winner of their quarterback competition, Nagy said this week. That’d be a good thing if both Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles consistently played well; unfortunately for the Bears, they looked closer to consistent mediocrity than consistent greatness. Nagy will name a starter next week, and my expectation is it’ll be Trubisky in a tie-goes-to-the-incumbent decision.
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David Montgomery’s status on next week’s injury reports will closely be monitored, but that the second-year running back is expected to be on them with a groin injury means this group is trending down. The Bears appear content to roll with Cordarrelle Patterson (who hasn't been present at the Bears' last three practices), Tarik Cohen, Ryan Nall and maybe Artavis Pierce at running back until Montgomery is healthy.
Also: Don’t sweat Bears not paying Leonard Fournette over $3 million to sign after he was cut by the Jaguars. That they weren’t interested is a good indication Montgomery won’t be out for long.
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Allen Robinson’s return to practice this week was a relief, and he looks ready to go for Week 1. Rookie Darnell Mooney stood out during camp, and 2019 fourth-round pick Riley Ridley came on strong in August, too. The Bears also liked what Anthony Miller did during camp. But as long as Robinson is out there, it’s hard to feel truly concerned about Mike Furrey’s group.
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Cole Kmet, Jimmy Graham and Demetrius Harris made plays throughout camp, and the guys further down the depth chart – J.P. Holtz, Eric Saubert and Jesper Horsted – were noticeable on a regular basis. The hype for this group might need to be tamped down a bit (Graham is probably not a Pro Bowler, and Kmet is probably not an offensive rookie of the year candidate) but if what we saw this summer translates to the regular season, these guys will be solid, productive, important pieces of the Bears’ offense.
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It’s tough to evaluate offensive line play from our vantage point in training camp practices, but no unit on this team leaves me feeling more unsettled than this one. The Bears seem to be betting on three things here: 1) Replacing Harry Hiestand with Juan Castillo will improve the line as a whole, 2) Moving Germain Ifedi to guard will stabilize the right side of the line and 3) James Daniels realizing his potential with a full year to prepare for and play left guard. We’ll see if any of those bets pay off starting Sept. 13.
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Akiem Hicks’ return to the practice fields at Halas Hall Thursday was encouraging enough for me to flip the arrow from down to up here. Bilal Nichols had a strong camp and Roy Robertson-Harris’ upside remains sneakily high. And it’s tough to worry about this group, even without Eddie Goldman, because of the talent on it and the guy coaching it (Jay Rodgers).
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Robert Quinn participated in 11-on-11 portions of Saturday’s scrimmage at Soldier Field and looked good doing so, but hasn’t been present during the portions of practice open to the media this week since Tuesday. Maybe it’s nothing for a tenured NFL veteran – Quinn told us after that scrimmage he’d be ready for Week 1 “as long as I wake up” — but we’ll be looking for his name on the Bears’ first injury report of the season next week.
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The Bears worked out a few free agents at Halas Hall last week, including veteran Alec Ogletree, but didn’t sign anyone – possibly because Josh Woods returned to practice right around the same time. Depth may be an issue here but if the Bears were truly worried about Woods and Joel Iyiegbuniwe backing up Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith, they probably would’ve signed someone.
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Jaylon Johnson tweeted Saturday that he finally was “cleared,” though we don’t have a gauge on how much he’s done at practice with the Bears closing off all but a few minutes of workouts to media this week. That’s one bit of good news; the other is that Kyle Fuller ended training camp as the most impressive defensive player out there for the Bears.
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The expectation here is Deon Bush will start Week 1 and have every opportunity to hang on to that job throughout the season. Tashaun Gipson slides in as a solid backup with plenty of NFL experience and flexibility to play deep and closer to the line of scrimmage. It feels like the Bears got what they wanted out of the Bush vs. Gipson competition and should be better off in secondary because of it.
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So, uh…who’s going to be the kicker on the Bears’ roster? Even without Eddy Pineiro attempting a field goal in practices open to the media, the way Nagy talked about him and Cairo Santos made me feel like Pineiro would still be on the 53-man roster. But with cuts quickly approaching, I’m not so sure. Either way, both Santos and Pineiro should be expected at Halas Hall next week, with one on the active roster and one on the practice squad.
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I’m not allowed to get into specifics of what I saw during training camp practices over the last few weeks, but a general observation: I’m encouraged by some of the things Nagy/Bill Lazor/Dave Ragone/John DiFilippo are doing with this offense. Do the Bears have the players on offense to get it done? That’s a separate question.
