Bears Players Who Need Impressive Camp to Avoid Being Cut

The Chicago Bears enter the 2024 preseason with a new mentality than the previous few seasons.

Chicago expects to contend for a playoff spot in the first year of the Caleb Williams era.

That expectation means that everyone on the 53-man roster must contribute in some capacity to challenge the established powers of the NFC.

A lot of training camp attention will be paid to the offensive skill positions to see which players stick around for the regular season.

Chicago's additions of Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze made roster survival more difficult for a few wide receivers.

The same could be said about D'Andre Swift's arrival as the No. 1 running back.

Velus Jones

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LAKE FOREST, ILLINOIS - JUNE 06: Velus Jones Jr. #12 of the Chicago Bears practices during the Chicago Bears mandatory minicamp at Halas Hall on June 06, 2024 in Lake Forest, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)

Velus Jones is one of the few wide receivers who should start training camp on the edge on the roster.

Jones has been primarily used in the return game during his NFL career, and that is where he will have to make his mark in training camp.

The Bears will not have many targets available to depth players with D.J. Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze and Cole Kmet on the field.

The remaining pass-catchers on the roster need to excel at special teams or bring something different to the table than the top players on the roster.

Jones' speed could be an asset to the offense, but he has not received much of a chance to prove himself and the Bears may be more willing to use Tyler Scott in that role.

Dante Pettis

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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - DECEMBER 04: Dante Pettis #18 of the Chicago Bears is tackled by Adrian Amos #31 of the Green Bay Packers and Quay Walker #7 during the third quarter of the game at Soldier Field on December 04, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Dante Pettis falls into the exact same category as Jones.

There is not much of a path for Pettis to earn first-team snaps because of how top-heavy the wide receiver room is.

The No. 4 wide receiver on the Bears roster will likely only pop up in certain situations if the top players remain healthy.

Pettis either has to prove his worth on special teams, where he'll be in direct competition with Jones, or beat out Scott for the No. 4 role.

Scott is younger and should be kept around after he displayed some bright spots last season, so Pettis may be auditioning for another team in preseason.

Travis Homer

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CHICAGO, IL - NOVEMBER 09: Travis Homer #20 of the Chicago Bears runs off of the field during an NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers at Soldier Field on November 9, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

Travis Homer will start preseason as the odd man out in the running back room.

Swift's arrival means the Bears have a clear-cut No. 1 ball carrier to support Williams in his first NFL season.

Roschon Johnson had some nice spots in his rookie campaign and will be expected to do more in a supporting role behind Swift in 2024.

That leaves Homer and Khalil Herbert fighting for the No. 3 role on the depth chart, which may not have much significance with Swift and Johnson healthy.

Homer has never had more than 200 rushing yards in a single season, while Herbert produced over 1,300 yards in the last two years.

Homer's best path to the 53-man roster is on special teams, but it may be difficult to give him a spot there since so many depth wide receivers are fighting for roles there as well.