5 Dark-Horse Candidates to Make Chicago Bears' Final 53-Man Roster
Many spots on the Chicago Bears' 53-man roster for the 2015 season are already set in stone, but there are a handful of spots that will be up for grabs later this summer.
The team held a handful of different minicamp and OTA sessions earlier this offseason, but the team is currently on hiatus until it reports to training camp later this month. Head coach John Fox has been with the team for a few months, but he likes the direction the team is heading.
“I think we’ve made progress," Fox said, according to Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com. "We’re by no means there yet. We’ve made a lot of changes, upstairs, downstairs, throughout the building. I think the guys have responded well. Guys have bought in and worked hard and that’s all I can ask.”
Much of the focus later this month and into August will center around big-name players with impressive college and NFL backgrounds, but there are a handful of dark-horse candidates who could make the roster out of training camp.
Who is a dark-horse candidate to make the 53-man roster in 2015? We explore that ahead.
RB Daniel Thomas
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The Bears added running backs Jacquizz Rodgers and Jeremy Langford earlier this offseason to compete with Ka'Deem Carey and Senorise Perry to be Matt Forte's backup this season, but they opted to add veteran running back Daniel Thomas to the mix last month, per Chicago Sun-Times' Adam Jahns.
The Miami Dolphins selected Thomas in the second round of the 2011 draft, but the former Kansas State star never developed into being the team's No. 1 running back.
Thomas appeared in 52 games for Miami and carried the football 409 times for 1,480 yards with 10 touchdowns. He also recorded 55 catches for 412 yards with three touchdowns.
He is not an every-down running back, but he could find a role in Chicago's offense as a short-yard specialist or as a third-down back.
Thomas is a good north-south runner who sees the hole and attacks, but he does not possess top-end speed for the position. One reason why he is a dark-horse candidate this offseason to make the 53-man roster is because Fox has discussed a desire to use multiple running backs this season.
"We’ve always been believers in kind of a one-two punch and rolling guys through there whether it’s the D-line; a wave of those guys to stay fresh," Fox said, according to John Mullin of CSNChicago.com. "I’ve always had the approach the same thing with running backs."
Forte is going to get the brunt of the load at running back in 2015, but the No. 2 spot is not guaranteed to any running back currently on the roster. Langford will make the team because he was a fourth-round pick this past May, but Carey, Perry and Rodgers' spots are not guaranteed.
Rodgers is a good bet to land on the 53-man roster because of what he can do on third downs and in pass protection, but he is not a bruising runner like Thomas.
Carey was a fourth-round pick in 2014 but was used sparingly last season. He could emerge as the team's No. 2 running back in training camp, but the current front office and coaching staff have no ties to the young running back.
Perry contributed on special teams last season, but he is a longshot to make the team.
Thomas struggled to solidify a role on offense while with the Dolphins, but because of his ability to run between the tackles and catch the football out of the backfield, he is a dark-horse candidate to make Chicago's 53-man roster in 2015.
KR Levi Norwood
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The Bears struggled in the return game last season until former Pro Bowl kick returner Marc Mariani joined the team in late November, but he will face tough competition from undrafted rookie Levi Norwood this offseason.
Norwood burst onto the scene in 2013 as a wide receiver at Baylor, hauling in 47 catches for 733 yards with eight touchdowns, but he caught just 35 passes last season for 319 yards with two touchdowns.
He will have a difficult time making Chicago's roster solely as a receiver, but he does have value as a return man. In his four-year career at Baylor, Norwood returned 64 punts for 559 yards and scored two touchdowns. He also returned 38 kickoffs for 768 yards.
He was not invited to the NFL Scouting Combine this past February, and according to NFL.com, his best 40-yard dash time at his pro day was just 4.57 seconds. Despite not having top-end speed, Norwood is elusive with the ball in his hands, and the young return man knows how to make defenders miss with his quick feet.
Norwood is more quick than fast, and that can be an asset for a punt returner. He has good vision and allows his blockers to get into position in front of him.
Even though Mariani is an experienced return man who has had success in his career, Norwood has a chance to make the roster because new special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers said the position is an open competition, according to Dickerson:
"I’ve coached bigger guys, smaller guys, faster guys—the ball security thing is always going to be a common trait. But we’re going to scheme our return stuff based on whatever the player does well. That’s still yet to be determined. Whoever that guy is going to win that job in training camp and into the season, they realize they are competing with everyone else on the roster. They realize they’re competing with the guys league-wide who are on rosters. And someone will emerge in that role.
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Norwood has some upside and could begin the 2015 season on the 53-man roster if he has a strong showing in training camp and the preseason.
CB Al Louis-Jean
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Al Louis-Jean went undrafted last offseason, but the young defensive back spent the entire 2014 offseason with the Bears. He played well in the preseason but was released by the team in late August. Chicago signed him to its practice squad on September 1, and he was promoted to the active roster on October 7.
He played in nine games last year and finished the season with 11 tackles and one pass deflection. According to Pro Football Focus, Louis-Jean played a total of 122 snaps on defense, but he finished the season with a minus-6.1 overall grade.
Per Pro Football Focus, the young cornerback's worst performance came against the New England Patriots in Week 8 last season. He allowed seven receptions on seven passes thrown his direction for 87 yards and one touchdown. Other than that game against New England, Louis-Jean allowed just three catches on the season.
Even though he struggled against New England, he played aggressively, and former head coach Marc Trestman was impressed with the young cornerback.
“He’s competitive, he’s been physical, he’s gone in and tackled, and tackled, gone hip-to-hip with some good receivers in the times that he’s played," Trestman said, according to Mullin.
He has the ability to play physical at the line of scrimmage, and he is not afraid to step up against the run.
He struggled at times last season, playing in the team's Cover 2 defense, but his skill set translates better to new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio's scheme. Fangio likes his corners to jam receivers at the line of scrimmage and play physical down the field.
Louis-Jean will not push for a starting role this offseason, but the young cornerback has a chance to solidify himself as the team's No. 5 cornerback in 2015 because of his aggression.
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QB Shane Carden
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The Bears decided not to use one of their draft picks on a quarterback this offseason, but they did add East Carolina quarterback Shane Carden as an undrafted free agent.
A prolific passer during his time with the Pirates, Carden finished his collegiate career with 11,991 passing yards, 86 touchdowns and just 30 interceptions in three years as a starter.
Despite his big numbers, Carden went undrafted because of his unusual mechanics. He creates most of his power with his arm instead of with his legs, and he often fails to step through his throws. Carden is a competitive quarterback who has upside, and he knows the most important thing for him is learning the playbook.
“Right now I’m just learning this playbook as fast as I can, getting down to competing, getting better every day, just showing I can pick this playbook up,” he said, according to Dickerson. “I’m going to go out there and compete every day."
Despite his flaws, he was handpicked by Chicago's front office and coaching staff, and he stands a better shot of making the team over 2014 sixth-round pick David Fales.
Fales was taken by the Bears in last year's draft because he fit Trestman's West Coast offense, but he might not fit in Chicago's new offense under coordinator Adam Gase. Fales is an accurate quarterback in the short-to-intermediate passing game, but he lacks ideal arm strength for the NFL.
Carden is also an accurate quarterback in the middle of the field, but he has a slightly stronger arm than Fales and has the ability to develop into a better down-the-field passer if he can improve his mechanics by working with quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains.
There is no guarantee the Bears keep another quarterback on the 53-man roster behind starter Jay Cutler and backup Jimmy Clausen, but if Carden can improve his mechanics and learn Chicago's playbook inside and out, the Bears may have a tough time keeping him off the 53-man roster.
CB Bryce Callahan
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Louis-Jean is not the only young cornerback in Chicago who has a chance to begin the season on the team's 53-man roster.
Former Rice University star Bryce Callahan was projected to go in the fifth or sixth round of this year's draft by NFL.com's Lance Zierlein, but the young cornerback went undrafted. Not long after the draft concluded, the Bears signed Callahan as an undrafted free agent.
He did not participate at the combine in February, but he impressed at his pro day back in March. HoustonTexans.com's John Harris recapped Callahan's pro day:
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When a defensive back is only 5’9”, there are some teams that’ll completely write him off the board. The thought is that a cornerback at that size just gets overwhelmed with the ball in the air vs. 6’1” wide receivers. But, when said cornerback has a 43” vertical leap, the game changes. CB Bryce Callahan did just that as he skied and got ooohs and ahhhhs from the assembled masses in the Rice weight room.
He wasn’t done as he ran a 4.4 40-yard dash and that was a conservative time as I had him in the 4.3 range on my watch. He’s so fluid with his movements, explosive with his speed and dynamic in his jumps. He hit 11’ with his broad jump and nearly jumped off the mat that the Rice strength coaches laid out for the drill. He also knocked out 15 reps of 225, which was a strong number at 183 pounds.
His height is a concern, but he rarely looked overmatched at Rice and is a physical cornerback at the line of scrimmage.
He will face tough competition from guys like Alan Ball, Tracy Porter, Demontre Hurst and Louis-Jean for a spot on the roster, but if one of the team's veterans falters in training camp, Callahan has a chance to make the roster as the team's fourth or fifth cornerback.
The young cornerback needs to get stronger, but he has all the tools to be a starter out of the slot in 2015 if he gets an opportunity to prove himself this offseason.
Statistical information courtesy of NFL.com and Sports-Reference.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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