The Chicago Bears saw some interesting movement in their roster battles after the Week 1 preseason win over Miami. However, it often in defeat where teams get the biggest gauge on who does or doesn’t belong on this team. Sure enough, the Buffalo Bills happily obliged by clobbering the Bears 41-15 at Soldier Field. It was a three-phase nightmare. No offensive rhythm. A leaky defense. Special teams mistakes.
It was obvious the team wasn’t ready to play. In those situations, a good team like Buffalo will always take advantage. Matt Nagy and the coaching staff have tons of work to do. It starts with figuring out who made a positive contribution to this game and who contributed to the disaster. Several players saw their stocks shift in a big way, for better or worse.
Here are a few that deserve mention either way.
Chicago Bears have a lot of movement across the roster
Fall: Andy Dalton
The veteran starter has played just over three quarters in a Bears uniform. His offense has six points to show for it including few first downs and an interception on his last pass attempt against Buffalo. His one big play was a long touchdown where the wide receiver made an outstanding catch. Dalton’s throw wasn’t the best. In fairness, the QB hasn’t played much with the entire starting offense this preseason. Still, he has not looked anything like the player this team continues to insist he is. Matt Nagy is determined to hold course at quarterback, but Dalton isn’t making that any easier.
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Rise: Rodney Adams
The former 5th round pick was retired at one point. When he decided to return, nobody gave Adams much of a chance to crack a roster. Chicago decided to offer an opportunity. For the second week in a row, he’s taken advantage. First was the nice 25-yard grab in tight coverage against Miami. Now it was a 73-yard touchdown that he plucked off the helmet of a Bills defender. This was the second-straight week Adams led the Bears in receiving for the game. Despite his occasional drop issues, it’s becoming almost impossible to ignore him at this point.
Fall: Elijah Wilkinson
The Bears saw veteran depth in Wilkinson when they signed him during free agency. Time has proven that there is probably a reason Denver let him walk and that he signed for so little. Through two games the tackle has been nothing short of a liability. It was even more prevalent against Buffalo where he routinely gave up pressures on the quarterback and offered little in the run game as well. The fact that Larry Borom, a rookie who had missed over a week of practice with a concussion clearly outperformed him? That should tell people all they need to know about what Wilkinson offers.
Rise: Caleb Johnson
An undrafted rookie out of Houston Baptist. The first-ever football player from that program to make an NFL roster. That is a pretty cool accomplishment in itself. As it turns out, Jones isn’t just another camp body. This kid can play. He was around the football a lot in Week 1, making multiple tackles at the line of scrimmage. Then this week he turned up the juice with two fumble recoveries and a terrific play on special teams when he literally threw a Bills blocker into the return man. There is too much depth ahead of him to crack the main roster right now, but Jones has no doubt secured himself a spot on the practice squad.
Fall: Kindle Vildor
The Chicago Bears know they need to find somebody who can play across from Jaylon Johnson at cornerback. It felt like Vildor, his fellow 2020 draft pick was positioning himself for that job in training camp. Performances like Saturday aren’t going to help his case. The Bills receivers routinely beat him most of the time he was on the field. He was also flagged for a holding penalty after getting cooked deep. His presence wasn’t felt much last week either. It feels like that CB2 job is still up for grabs with guys like Desmond Trufant and Artie Burns fighting to grab it. Burn had two pass breakups in the game.
Rise: Charles Snowden
It is a reasonable assumption that if not for a late-season injury, Snowden would’ve been drafted. Probably between the 3rd and 5th round. The Bears got him as an undrafted free agent. Already that talent he flashed at Virginia is showing up. He had a nice sack against Miami last week. This time he produced a number of pressures and also had a tackle for loss against Buffalo. The Bears appear quite deep at outside linebacker this year. That will make it tough for Snowden to make the roster, but he’s a lock for the practice squad and somebody who could have a nice future in Chicago.
Fall: Riley Ridley
The former 4th round pick has had drop issues throughout training camp. He failed to impress in the opener. So this game figured to be one of huge importance for him. Once again, the receiver failed to stand out in any way. He had one chance to deliver a big play when Justin Fields threw a terrific pass down the right sideline that should’ve been caught. One can argue Ridley was interfered with, but the bottom line is good receivers make that play. He did not. This has been the case for most of his time in Chicago.
Rise: Khalil Herbert
The 6th round pick didn’t get much fanfare when the Chicago Bears drafted him but there were rumblings among scouts and experts that the team got a steal. Thus far this is proving to be the case. Herbert had 15 yards on three carries with a touchdown against Buffalo. He also had a solid 24-yard kickoff return. His versatility stands out routinely when on the field. It might not be too crazy to think he is pushing Damien Williams for playing time. It’s nice to see the Bears clearly have strong depth at running back. Something that was not the case last year.
