5 Chicago Bears Players Poised for a Breakout Campaign in 2015
Every year, there are a handful of players in the NFL who come out of nowhere to become household names, and the Chicago Bears hope a few of their own players can breakout in 2015.
A breakout player candidate can be someone who has been stuck behind productive players on the depth chart, a veteran who has struggled with injuries or even an unproven player who is making a position change this offseason.
The Bears have a handful of players who will take on a new role this season, and many are candidates for a breakout season in 2015. Many positions are set in stone on offense, but the defensive side of the football will look a lot different in Week 1 this season than it did in 2014.
Just ahead, we take a look at five Chicago Bears players who are poised to have a breakout campaign in 2015.
OLB Lamarr Houston
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Lamarr Houston came to Chicago last offseason with high expectations after signing a five-year, $35 million contract, but he was one of the team's biggest disappointments.
He registered just 11 tackles and one sack in eight games before tearing his ACL celebrating a sack in a blowout loss to the New England Patriots. He was placed on injured reserve and missed the final eight games of the season.
"I probably shouldn't have celebrated like that, but it happens," Houston said after the game, according to Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe.
With the Bears moving to a 3-4 defense this offseason, they decided to move the former defensive end to outside linebacker.
“He's going to be an outside linebacker, that's where he'll start,” head coach John Fox said in March, according to Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times. “What he ends up being, until we hit the grass we can't evaluate it. It's really kind of too early to stay, but he'll start as an outside linebacker.”
Houston has experience playing outside linebacker from his days with the Oakland Raiders, and a position change may give him new life.
“Now, I have the opportunity to go back to strictly playing outside linebacker and rushing on the edge,” Houston said, per Jahns. “I don't have to necessarily put last year behind me because when I start playing this year, it's going to be gone.”
Houston has only registered 17 sacks in his first five years in the league, but he has been very good at applying pressure to the quarterback in his career.
Per Pro Football Focus, he registered 41 quarterback hurries and 16 quarterback hits in 1,049 snaps in 2013, and he finished with 15 quarterback hurries and 10 quarterback hits in 405 snaps last season.
He has been productive against the run throughout his career, but he has a chance to develop into a reliable pass-rusher in defensive coordinator Vic Fangio's scheme if he can return to the field healthy this offseason. Fangio is known for putting his players in the right position to make plays, and he should be able to find a role that will allow Houston to excel in 2015.
DL Ego Ferguson
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A second-round pick of the Bears last year, defensive tackle Ego Ferguson was expected to be a major contributor, but he finished the year with just 24 tackles and two sacks.
He showed flashes of his potential as a pass-rusher, but he was too inconsistent at times last season. He was expected to compete for the starting nose tackle position in the team's new 3-4 defense, but he has shed some weight this offseason to compete for one of the team's 5-technique defensive end positions.
"I lost about 15 pounds, to 298-299, just trying to get a little more pass rushing and being able to run around a little more," Ferguson said, according to John Mullin of CSNChicago.com. "I think 295-300 will be about right. They want you to be strong and explosive, not just big.”
Even though he has shed some weight to play on the outside, general manager Ryan Pace thinks Ferguson can play both inside and outside.
“We've talked about [Ferguson] a lot,” Pace said after the draft, according to Mullin. “We project him as really nose and end. He can be both for us. So we don't have him set at one position right now. He can be a nose or an end. He has position flexibility there, too.”
Ferguson's flexibility is one of the reasons why he is poised to have a breakout campaign in 2015.
He is explosive off the football and has a nice first step, but he needs to work on his technique because he struggles to disengage from opposing offensive linemen. He has the ability to be a two-gap player and could be a force against the run on the outside because of his ability to read and react.
As a nose tackle, he has the speed and quickness to beat opposing centers and also has the ability to collapse the pocket. He is still a work in progress, but he has a chance to breakout in 2015 because of his versatility and athleticism.
G Matt Slauson
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Including a 29-year-old offensive lineman on a potential breakout list is not common, but guard Matt Slauson has a chance to solidify himself as one of the league's best guards this season.
Slauson signed a one-year deal with the Bears in 2013 and started all 16 games at left guard. According to PFF, he finished that season as the sixth-best guard in the league with a plus-21.8 overall grade. He allowed just two sacks, nine quarterback hits and 15 quarterback hurries in 1,070 snaps.
The Bears were pleased with Slauson's performance and signed him to a four-year deal last offseason. He began last season as the team's starter at left guard, but he only played in five games due to injuries.
He tore his pectoral muscle in Week 8 against the New England Patriots and was lost for the season, but he pushed himself in rehab to be ready for the start of offseason workouts, according to Jeff Dickerson of ESPN Chicago:
"When the season was over I stayed in the area for about a month and a half to just train and do all my rehab here. Then when I got to a certain point where I was good, where I was strong enough to where I could start rehabbing elsewhere, I would split time between here and Nebraska, where I would train at the University of Nebraska with their head trainer there I have done some rehab with in the past. I'll be cleared maybe about a month early of where I was supposed to be.
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Slauson has been a steady performer throughout his career, but he is looking forward to taking on a bigger role in Chicago now that Roberto Garza is no longer with the team.
“I'm looking at it as a great opportunity and a positive challenge on myself going into Year 7, starting to establish myself as one of the core guys on the team,” Slauson said, according to Larry Mayer of the team's website. “I really want that.”
If Slauson can revert back to his 2013 form, he has a chance to not only solidify the offensive line in 2015, but he has a chance to become one of the league's best guards in Chicago's new offense.
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S Brock Vereen
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A 2014 fourth-round pick, Brock Vereen struggled when he was thrust into a starting role last season, but he has a chance to be a breakout player in Fangio's 3-4 defense in 2015.
During minicamps last offseason, Vereen lined up at free safety with the first-team defense, and then-defensive coordinator Mel Tucker liked what he saw from the former Minnesota Golden Gopher, according to Mayer:
"Brock has done a nice job. He has great attention to detail. He's very sound from a technique standpoint. He's smart, he plays fast. He does not make a lot of mistakes. That's good to see. So I think it's "arrow up" with him. He's doing an outstanding job so far. We'll see how it goes. We have competition there. There's nothing set in stone. So we'll just continue to monitor him and the rest of the guys and we'll end up with a good group.
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Vereen played in all 16 games last season and finished with 39 tackles, one forced fumble and one interception. He made one start early in the season before starting the final three games of the year.
According to PFF, he finished the season with a minus-1.2 overall grade, but he registered a plus-3.0 grade in the final three games of the season. He struggled at times against the run, but his coverage skills improved over the course of the season.
He is a rangy, athletic defensive back who has the ability to cover the back half of the field as a single-high safety, but he also has experience playing both nickelback and cornerback.
The team signed Antrel Rolle to help solidify the free safety position in 2015, meaning Vereen will compete with Ryan Mundy at strong safety. Vereen has the ability to play up in the box against the run as a strong safety, but his skill set may translate better inside at nickelback.
During Fangio's time with the San Francisco 49ers, he liked to use versatile safeties at the nickelback position because of their ability to play in both coverage and against the run.
Vereen has good coverage skills, possesses good awareness and is not afraid to step up against the run. The nickelback position appears to be a wide open competition in Chicago, and Vereen has a chance to develop into a playmaker in the slot if he can win the job in training camp.
NT Terry Williams
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The Bears added nose tackle Eddie Goldman out of the Florida State Seminoles in the second round of this year's draft to help solidify the interior of the team's defensive line, but undrafted free agent Terry Williams has a chance to earn a significant role this season with a strong training camp.
Goldman is projected to be the team's starter at the 0-technique nose tackle position this season, but the Bears lack depth behind him. Ferguson, Jeremiah Ratliff, Ray McDonald and Will Sutton all have the ability to play the nose tackle position, but none of those four are considered pure nose tackles.
Like Goldman, Williams is a pure nose tackle who can plug up holes in the running game and can occasionally rush the passer.
He is strong at the point of attack, has a good burst off the line of scrimmage and has enough speed to track down ball-carriers in the backfield. Despite the positives to his game, Williams went undrafted earlier this month. Bleacher Report's Matt Miller explained earlier this offseason why Williams may have went undrafted:
"Williams was suspended in 2013 for violation of team policy. He was also suspended in 2012 following a drug-related arrest. On the field, Williams' lack of height will be an issue for many teams, and his ability to keep his weight in check will be, too. He looked much more effective when he played closer to 320 pounds than his ballooned weight of 353 pounds in 2014. Off the field, Williams is a big risk due to arrests, suspensions and his weight. On the field, he's pretty impressive.
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Williams' off-the-field issues are alarming, and he understands why he went undrafted.
"I had some issues back in college, and I'm not the tallest guy. I'm not the guy you see and say, ‘Man, he looks good,’" Williams said, according to Mayer. "So I wasn't surprised, but I was a little disappointed."
His weight is a bit of a concern, but if he can slim down, the 6'1" Williams has a chance to play pivotal snaps this season at nose tackle. His stats will not jump off the page, but he should be able to take on double-teams to help free up space for Chicago's linebackers to make a play.
Statistical information courtesy of NFL.com, unless otherwise noted.
Matt Eurich is a Chicago Bears Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.
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