Chicago Bears: 5 Things first official depth chart signals

The Chicago Bears just released their first depth chart, revealing some surprises. We go over five takeaways from that release.

The 2018 NFL season is almost upon us, or at least the start of the preseason. In just a few days on Aug. 2, the Chicago Bears and the Baltimore Ravens start the preseason in the Hall of Fame Game.

In the meantime, the biggest news coming out of training camp is the release of the team’s first depth chart. Yes, it’s amazing that the release gets so much attention. Rarely does the final depth chart turn out like the first one. There hasn’t been one game played yet, and there hasn’t been any injuries or rookies having great (or bad) plays. I guess it’s just something to kill the monotony of training camp.

The Bears released their first depth chart on Friday. The chart opened some eyes, having some surprising players in surprising positions. That could just be the coaching staff trying to light fires into some players, or it could be that it’s just where the players are at this moment.

There are five interesting takeaways from this first depth chart release. I’ll go over what those placements mean for the team and for the players.

1. Eric Kush is ahead of James Daniels

I recently wrote about how Eric Kush is putting up a big fight for the starting left guard spot. He is a veteran, so he has a better grasp of what professional coaches expect. Additionally, he’s familiar with head coach Matt Nagy’s system since he was in Kansas City when Nagy worked with the quarterbacks.

Those advantages give Kush a leg up on the battle. Daniels is talented so he’ll get up to speed with the NFL life. He’ll pick up the system and eventually his talent wins out. The question at this point is whether he does enough to earn the starting spot this season. He certainly won’t be handed the job.

2. Adam Shaheen is the third-string tight end

This is surprising. Adam Shaheen was the Bears’ second-round draft pick last year. He didn’t play many snaps, mainly due to former head coach John Fox and his aversion to using rookies too much.

The offseason move to sign Trey Burton certainly muddied Shaheen’s situation. Burton is clearly the No. 1 tight end. Some thought the Bears would use a double tight end formation like the New England Patriots did when they had Rob Gronkowski and the late Aaron Hernandez. They still could do that, but it doesn’t seem the same if they have Burton and Dion Sims.

More from NFL Spin Zone

• Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
• Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
• Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
• Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
• Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens

This is something I think done by the coaches to get to Shaheen. The more work he gets, the more his skills come out. With his size, hands, and route running, he shouldn’t be behind Sims. This should change by the third preseason game.

3. Aaron Lynch may be in trouble

When Aaron Lynch played under defensive coordinator Vic Fangio in San Francisco, he looked like a star in the making. Since Fangio left for Chicago, however, Lynch spent a lot of time in the trainer’s room (missing 20 games in three seasons) and playing up-and-down.

Now, Lynch and Fangio are back together. That means Lynch will resuscitate his career, right? Not so fast.

The injuries are back for Lynch. So far, he missed every practice during the first 10+ days of training camp. The Bears signed him so he could provide a proper pass rush opposite of Leonard Floyd. General manager Ryan Pace took a chance by not signing a more settled pass rusher. Aside from Lynch, the Bears have just Sam Acho, Isaiah Irving and rookie Kylie Fitts.

In fact, at the moment Acho, a career journeyman, is the starter opposite Floyd. No offense to Acho, but after signing a series of one-year contracts finally got a multi-year contract — two years. He’s good for depth, but I’m not sure he is starter material.

If Lynch cannot shed the injury bug, he’ll be one of those late camp cuts. If that’s the case, I see the Bears looking for a pass rusher from the same list of late cuts from around the league.

4. Jonathan Bullard is leading for the defensive end spot opposite Akiem Hicks

While not many people are talking the defensive end spot opposite of Akiem Hicks, that position is as important as the pass rusher slot opposite Floyd. Hicks is the man on the left side. He’s been outstanding since coming to Chicago. He recorded 15.5 sacks and 108 tackles in his two years with the Bears.

The problem the Bears have is pairing someone on the other side to help him. In both of his two seasons in Chicago, Hicks wore down towards the end of the season because of the continuous double-teams he faced.

With Mitch Unrein leaving for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a hole opened up. So far, Jonathan Bullard has a hold of the job over Roy Robertson-Harris. Bullard has had a disappointing career so far. The Bears wanted him to emerge ahead of Unrein, but he just couldn’t get it done. It’s only been two seasons so he has a chance to turn things around.

This race will go down to the wire. I think the coaches will give Bullard every opportunity to win the job, but I have a feeling that Robertson-Harris eventually wins the job. Hopefully, whoever wins the job can help Hicks. As a side-note, Bilal Nichols is listed as HIcks’ backup. I think he’ll do well as the backup and could be the perfect complement on the other side of HIcks in 2019.

5. Joshua Bellamy’s time with the Bears could be coming to an end

Josh Bellamy was second in yards for the Bears’ wide receivers last season. That isn’t saying much since he had just 376 receiving yards. The Bears overhauled their wide receivers corps, and, surprisingly, Bellamy survived. One of the main reasons many felt for that was his value on special teams.

Perhaps that experience helping the special teams isn’t helping him much. As a wide receiver, he is listed at third-string, behind Taylor Gabriel and rookie Anthony Miller. There is a lot more talent in this unit so keeping him may not be an option.

Some of the other receivers could provide as much. if not better, special teams play. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Chicago Bears cut Bellamy early so he could catch on with another team. He is now officially on the bubble.

As I mentioned, this is just the first chart. Things at the end of the season may be vastly different. At the very least, we get an idea of what the coaches are thinking about the roster. Things will start to get very interesting starting with the first preseason game coming up in a few days.