GM Ryan Pace has a reputation for constantly tinkering with the bottom of the Chicago Bears roster. That was on display this week as he made a number of interesting moves at both wide receiver and inside linebacker. The most recent adjustment came after the team signed tryout receiver Chris Lacy. This led to them waiving the recent addition of Michael Pinckney at inside linebacker. Now with an excess of wide receivers, it was time for another tweak.
Reggie Davis, an offseason staple the past couple of years, was released. Rather than re-sign Pinckney though, Pace opted for a shift to another linebacker. This being veteran Austin Calitro. Most people won’t know the name but the Bears do. They first became aware of him back in 2018 when he was a reserve and spot starter for the Seattle Seahawks. In a game at Soldier Field, he delivered a respectable nine tackles and a pass defense. Part of a decent year he had for Seattle.
Now he gets a chance to wear navy blue and orange.
We have signed LB Austin Calitro.@Hyundai | #DaBears https://t.co/Cg4QyZ0dTx
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) May 18, 2021
One notable appeal for Calitro outside of his 2018 work was the fact he spent last season in Denver working under Vic Fangio. So he’s familiar with the type of scheme the Bears will run under new defensive coordinator Sean Desai. Though not a premier athlete, Calitro has a reputation for instincts and intelligence. He finds his way to the football. Of the nine starts he’s made as a pro, seven of them resulted in five tackles or more. He also had a tackle for loss in six of them.
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So as reserves go, he’s a fairly proven player. He certainly traveled the hard way to the NFL. It isn’t easy getting noticed playing at a school like Villanova, almost exclusively known for its basketball program. Calitro is also just 6’0 tall, making it hard for him to generate any buzz with pro teams. That is why he went undrafted.
Chicago Bears depth considerably better at ILB now
The lingering concern with that position is the state of their depth. While Josh Woods and Joel Iyiegbuniwe have stood out fairly well on special teams, neither have made a good account of themselves in their limited appearances on defense. Calitro eases those concerns somewhat. While never a special teams standout, he’s proven a number of times that he can be an able fill-in for emergencies.
He also isn’t a stranger to finding his way onto rosters when many doubted he would. He did it in Seattle, then again in Jacksonville, and again in Denver last year. His mixture of instincts and intangibles tends to resonate with defensive coaches. He also has some not-terrible tape to fall back on. Nobody will ever confuse him for a Roquan Smith, but guys like that are good to have on the roster.
It will be fun to see that competition at ILB unfold.
Woods and Iyiegbuniwe stood tall last year. Now it seems the Chicago Bears coaching staff are interested in pushing them a little more. This style of defense tends to fit Calitro’s instinctive, downhill style. He has enough range in his game to play sideline to sideline. It always comes down to whether he can work around his lack of size.
