The Chicago Bears beat the Denver Broncos in their preseason bout on Saturday night by a score of 24-23. The starters played into the second quarter, with the “starters vs. starters” portion ending by a score of Bears 7, Broncos 5. Hooray!
We saw some good and some bad. On defense, the pass rush was non-existent, but they played well in containing Case Keenum and the Denver offense, even after having to take the field following a safety.
On offense, the team moved the ball well on three of four possessions, but quarterback Mitch Trubisky looked erratic at times. All in all, it was good to see the offense get an extended look, but Trubisky needs to continue ironing out the wrinkles in his play (reads, decision making, and footwork).
The Bears take on the Kansas City Chiefs this coming Saturday at Soldier Field, where the new-look team will play in front of their home fans for the first time this preseason. It’ll also serve as the final tuneup for the starters, before Chicago closes out the preseason with a “backup duel” against the Buffalo Bills the following week, again at Soldier Field.
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With that, we reach into this week’s Bears Mailbag. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions! Always appreciate the participation.
Do you think its a real possibility that the bears trade for Khalil Mack?
— sauce 👑 (@aymanabuomar1) August 20, 2018
I would LOVE for the Bears to trade for Khalil Mack. His situation with the Oakland Raiders is well documented, and the Bears have a real need. EDGE was always the Bears’ biggest need this offseason, more so than receiver. But Chicago opted to invest a lot of resources to fix the WR position, and didn’t do enough to address EDGE.
Aaron Lynch has been injured most of preseason. Sixth-round rookie Kylie Fitts has been ineffective in preseason, along with second-year youngster Isaiah Irving. Kasim Edebali has flashed a bit, but is still very much unproven. And now, the Bears’ best EDGE, Leonard Floyd, is dealing with a fracture in his hand — and given how inconsistent he’s been rushing the passer when healthy, having just one good hand is not ideal. Not to mention, the Bears’ first game of the season is in prime time against Aaron Rodgers, of all people. It’s a disaster waiting to happen. So the need for EDGE depth (and honestly, a starter across from Floyd) is truly, truly real. In fact, it’s even more pressing now than it was at the beginning of the offseason, which is scary to think about.
But that being said, I don’t think a trade for Mack is going to happen. For one, I don’t think Ryan Pace will fork over the draft capital required to land Mack, and then also turn around and pay him the $20M+ per year he (rightfully) is looking for. It just doesn’t seem like a Pace move, despite his penchant for aggressiveness.
I also don’t think that the Bears are a Mack trade away from being Super Bowl contenders. To me, they need one more offseason to acquire depth (and perhaps a starter or two at various positions) before, in my opinion, they have the required pieces to make a Super Bowl push. Mack would make them playoff contenders, but I don’t know how far they’d get. And I don’t know if it’s smart to make a trade like that without being comfortable with the rest of the roster just yet.
It’s an intriguing storyline, and I’d be thrilled to get him. I just don’t think it happens (yet).
Why haven't the bears drafted or developed a good OLB group?
— Paul (@mrpchvz) August 21, 2018
This question relates to the one above. It’s a very good one, too, and the best answer I have for you is that Ryan Pace hasn’t felt that the crop of available players, either in free agency or at his selection spot in the draft, has been good enough to warrant an acquisition.
For example, capable veterans such as Connor Barwin and Lamarr Houston could’ve been brought in a long time ago, but Pace chose not to. In the draft, the Bears had plenty of chances to draft some of the better EDGE talents in the draft at the time of selection, but Pace opted to go with other players at different positions that he liked better. I completely understand and agree with the “best player available” strategy. But a) you better be right in your evaluations (hint: no one has a 100% success rate), and b) the team still has glaring holes in their EDGE depth chart.
They do have some players they feel good about, such as Isaiah Irving and Kylie Fitts, but neither player has done much to warrant confidence this preseason. So it’s natural for fans to feel more uneasy than normal about the current state of that position group. I sure am.
But expect Pace to scour the waiver wire like never before after final cuts to bring in talent. Every year after final cuts, surprise names become available via the waiver process — and I anticipate Pace to try extremely hard to fill holes using that method. The good news is the Bears will have high waiver priority due to their record last year. Let’s see what happens and revisit this before Week 1.
Where is the world is Daniels? And why isn't he on the 1st string oline
— Beardown85 (@hawkeyes4life1) August 20, 2018
I wouldn’t worry about this too much — he will be there. The Bears are bringing him along slowly, but there is little doubt in my mind that James Daniels will be on the first-string offensive line come Week 1. What I don’t agree with is the coaching staff adamantly keeping Cody Whitehair at C and Daniels at LG. This should not be happening, IMO, and I really don’t understand the logic.
But Harry Hiestand is one of the best offensive line coaches in the country, and his input will inform all of the decisions. So far, it seems that he feels it’s best this way. So I’ll trust him. We’ll see how it ends up.
Thanks, also do u think any UFAs make the 53, I would say Toliver probably has the best shot although didn’t have his best game in Denver
— Elliot Needham (@elliot_needham) August 21, 2018
I do think a few UDFAs will make the final roster. For one, Kevin Toliver. I disagree with the notion that he didn’t play well against Denver. He displayed some lacking instincts, sure, but that’s a problem for most young defensive backs. And that can improve with more experience. From a physical talent perspective, Toliver blanketed his assigned receivers most of the night, and he has a lot of potential in general coming out of LSU. I don’t know how much he’ll contribute as a rookie, but the coaching staff is high on him and he has a great chance at making the roster.
Ryan Nall is in a battle for the fourth RB spot with Taquan Mizzell. And if the Bears decide to keep four RBs like they did last year, I expect Nall to beat Mizzell. He’s been the better player in preseason and from many accounts in training camp, too. But he won’t beat Benny Cunningham for the third RB spot.
A few others that have a shot at making it: Michael Joseph (CB), Dejon Allen (OL), Elijah Norris (EDGE), and Abdullah Anderson (DL).
Besides the competition at LG, are there any other starting positions that have not been decided?
— Kenneth Bronke (@KBronke) August 21, 2018
The LG and C battles go hand-in-hand — as stated above, I really do expect James Daniels to be the starting center sooner rather than later, and Cody Whitehair to be the starting LG. But we’ll see how long it takes to get to that point.
Other battles that need to be resolved are on the DL – who will be the starting DE opposite Akiem Hicks? Roy Robertson-Harris, Jonathan Bullard, and Bilal Nichols are all in competition for that spot, and right now, I’d have to say that RRH has the upper hand. He has been a beast this preseason. And I expect Nichols to contribute heavily in the rotation as well.
The other big question mark is the EDGE spot opposite Leonard Floyd, assuming he is healthy enough to start/play in Week 1 given his new hand injury. Sam Acho is a stable veteran who plays smart but is limited athletically. Aaron Lynch, ideally, would have grabbed that spot and run away with it, but he’s been injured. And Isaiah Irving and Kylie Fitts have left much to be desired this preseason. So those spots, and the corresponding depth chart, are BIG question marks.
I’d also keep an eye on the returner positions. Tarik Cohen will likely get one of the spots, but it’ll be interesting to see whom the Bears deploy back there during the regular season. DeMarcus Ayers has flashed a bit, but he won’t contribute much on offense, and I don’t know if the Bears will use a roster spot for just a return man. We’ll see.
Also, before anyone asks, no, I don’t think Nick Kwiatkoski will start Week 1 over Roquan Smith just because Smith missed training camp. Smith is the superior player, and the Bears will need that on defense against Aaron Rodgers.
Who’s gonna disappoint with expectations this year
— Nick P (@nickdabears34) August 20, 2018
I’ll tell you this: It better not be Mitch Trubisky. If it is, the Bears are screwed.
It also depends on what you mean by disappoint. But I’ll go ahead and say Leonard Floyd. The Bears are so thin at EDGE that teams could opt to double-team Floyd and take their chances on the EDGE rusher opposite Floyd, whoever that might be. Oh, and now Floyd is dealing with a fractured hand.
The Bears are counting on double-digit sacks and numerous other pressures/hurries from Floyd in Year 3. I don’t think that will happen. And that’s not good news for this team.
Is there any chance Tyler Bray surpasses Daniels as the number 2? If not, do they keep 3 QB's on the active?
— BC on the couch (@Brian63701486) August 21, 2018
Interesting question. Tyler Bray has looked better than Chase Daniel at times this preseason (actually, Daniel has looked AWFUL at times), but Daniel played rather well against the Broncos, directing two late scoring drives to lift Chicago to a win.
It’s worth noting that despite his age and time in the league, Daniel has thrown 70-odd regular season passes in his CAREER. So he’s not a proven veteran by any means when it comes to actually playing quarterback. He has experience the last couple years in Andy Reid and Matt Nagy’s offense in Kansas City, and spent time backing up Drew Brees in New Orleans as well. But he’s not someone you can necessarily count on to come into the game and keep things running above water.
Daniel, though, is a professional and by all accounts, is having a Mark Sanchez type effect on Trubisky in terms of advice and mentorship. And Daniel doesn’t have to be active to continue doing that. Still, I think Daniel will be the #2 guy.
And I don’t think the Bears will keep three active QBs on the roster, unless Trubisky suffers some sort of ailment that requires monitoring. They didn’t last year, and I don’t think they will this year.
