Quick Guide To What to Watch In Chicago Bears' Preseason Opener

Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner and coach Lovie Smith did a fairly good job of spelling out how important Saturday night’s game in Buffalo is to a lot of players on their team.

“OTAs are one thing, training camp is another thing and games are a completely different thing,” Turner offered.

Smith got a little more detailed.

“As much as anything, we want to see the guys play hard and tackle,” Smith said.

“We’ve played hard but we haven’t had a chance to tackle.

“We want to see how some of our players finish the job and it won’t be a success defensively unless we are able to get a takeaway.”

On both sides of the football, the Bears have basically been going through the motions.

All the training camp media accounts of players getting situated in position battles mean little right now because players have not been tackling and really hitting.

Training camp is like what fishermen call “catch and release.” There is no tackling to the ground. The blockers aren’t taking out guys’ knees. The defensive backs don’t head hunt.

Everything goes live Saturday against Buffalo and the receivers who have excelled in camp might do a complete reversal of fortunes when they have to worry about a safety taking them out if they reach for a ball while going over the middle.

Quite frequently, players who haven’t done a thing to excite anyone in training camp will stand out in the real game circumstance preseason offers.

“The depth chart, as I have said, doesn’t mean a whole lot until you’ve played your first game,” Smith said. “We’ll get that first game under our belt and go from there.”

All that being understood, watch the preseason game with these position battles in mind.

So when you're done ooohing and ahhhing over Jay Cutler's first arm in his first appearance as a Bear, watch for the following things as the coaches try to shape their team.

Wide receiver

Who among Juaquin Iglesias, Rashied Davis, Johnny Knox, Derek Kinder, Devin Aromashodu, Brandon Rideau, Eric Peterman and John Broussard will step up to take one of three spots, possibly four? 

So far Rideau and Aromashodu have made a move, and Rideau is working as the third receiver in three-receiver sets. However, they’ve accomplished this without the pressure of being tackled or even hit hard in the secondary. Can they hold onto the ball when the hitting starts? A receiver who can’t is useless.

When the lights come on, someone who hasn’t even shown up can suddenly make an impact. So it wouldn’t be surprising if even Kinder, Broussard or Peterman stepped up after doing little to catch attention in camp to this point.

Safety

Al Afalava is expected to start at strong safety and Kevin Payne at free safety due to free safety/nickel back Danieal Manning’s hamstring pull. Afalava is loved by coaches because he’s always talking, always trying to keep the line of communication open in the secondary—a rarity for an inexperienced player. Also, he’s supposed to be a big hitter, but no one can be sure until it actually happens in a game.

Craig Steltz has played himself into third team position at safety and needs a big game to regain some status, not to mention confidence.

Cornerback

Coaches want to continue seeing the Nate Vasher who has produced turnovers the last two practices rather than the one who is slipping and watching receivers run past him. They want to see cornerback Trumaine McBride show he can be far more consistent at preventing big gains.

Corey Graham is back at the corner now but still behind McBride in the last few practices. He could steal back the first-team spot back until Charles Tillman and Zak Bowman come back from injuries.  

Offensive line

The focus is on left guard where Josh Beekman has been able to hold off Frank Omiyale so far, but they’re close and offensive line play in training camp is never like in games. You know pass rushers won’t be able to clobber quarterback Jay Cutler or Caleb Hanie in camp, but in a preseason game anything goes.

Defenses don’t usually blitz much in early preseason games, but that possibility makes this game interesting from the line standpoint.

At right tackle, it’s Chris Williams’ first test as a Bear.  

Keep an eye on Lance Louis when the second team is on the field. Despite distractions from revelations about the beating he allegedly put on a former college teammate and possible charges he could face, Louis has fought his way into a second-team tackle spot even though he’d been regarded as a guard or even tight end on draft day.

Defensive line

Dusty Dvoracek needs to start producing and stay healthy to ensure he can stay in a battle at nose tackle, although if Tommie Harris’ health remains a question then Dvoracek will never have to worry about job security.  Marcus Harrison can simply shift over to the 3-technique for Harris and Dvoracek can continue at his nose spot.

Backup quarterback

Caleb Hanie and Brett Basanez might be the worst option at backup quarterback in the NFL.

Neither can afford to struggle much in preseason because a handful of veterans with questionable abilities waits for the call from teams like the Bears.

“I feel good that they haven’t moved in that direction so far,” Hanie said. “It shows that they have confidence in who’s here now. Obviously if you go out and show them something different in the preseason—play worse or something like that—then it can change like that. That’s why the preseason games will be so important.”