Roster Holes Bears Must Fill Before Training Camp
The Chicago Bears have reached the point of their roster rebuild where they only have a few roster holes left to fill.
The Bears are stocked with top-end talent and Caleb Williams should lead them close to the NFC wild-card picture in his rookie season.
But in order to compete for loftier goals, like the NFC North title, the Bears need to add a few more players to help with depth.
There is a weakness on both ends of the interior. The center and guard positions will be the biggest question marks in training camp and help could be added to the Montez Sweat-led defensive line.
The Bears also have to figure out who will back up Williams in Week 1. Right now, the backup situation does not look great, but that is something the Bears hope they do not have to worry about at all in 2024.
Interior Offensive Line
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The Bears' biggest offensive hole is on the interior.
Coleman Shelton was brought in to play center and Nate Davis is currently penciled in to play right guard.
Davis was one of the weaker parts of the offensive line in 2023 and his job could be under threat if he does not perform well in training camp.
Shelton needs to prove that he can develop a strong connection with Williams, like the one he had with Matthew Stafford in Los Angeles, to be trusted as the long-term answer at center.
The Bears are set everywhere else on the offensive line, so all they have to worry about this summer is finding the right combination at center and right guard with players who are either on or off the current squad.
Defensive Line
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The Bears could use one more edge-rusher to complement Montez Sweat.
Sweat recorded six sacks in nine games last season after his arrival from the Washington Commanders.
Sweat will be the anchor of the defensive line for multiple years, and while he is expected to lead the team in sacks, he needs some help on the other edge to keep double teams away from him on every play.
DeMarcus Walker had a solid 3.5-sack season in 2023, but the Bears need a bit more sack volume out of him and in the depth roles.
Rookie Austin Booker is expected to provide some depth behind Walker and Sweat, but the Bears could use one more veteran piece to round out the overall depth.
Backup Quarterback
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The Bears hope they do not have to worry about their backup quarterback situation at all in 2024.
Caleb Williams is the guy and will hopefully shine in all 17 regular-season games plus a potential playoff appearances.
But after all the quarterback injuries across the NFL in 2023, the Bears have to at least be prepared for the worst-case scenario so they do not lose a year.
Tyson Bagent and Brett Rypien will fight for the backup role in training camp. Bagent had three touchdowns and six interceptions in backup duty in 2023. Rypien owns four touchdown passes and nine interceptions in the spot starts he's had across the league.
Neither player inspires a ton of confidence at the moment, but again, the hope is whomever earns the backup job helps Williams improve instead of playing.
You could argue right now, though, that the Bears have one of the weaker sets of backup quarterbacks and they are one injury away from a potentially disastrous string of defeats.
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