Chicago Bears: 5 Players with most to prove in training camp

5. CB Buster Skrine

Of all the moves Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace made in the offseason, this one really made the fans scratch their heads. Yes, I understand that letting running back Jordan Howard is up there, but many believe he did a great job of overhauling the position and picked the right replacement.

Buster Skrine, however, is a question mark. If you look at his tape with the New York Jets you see some red flags. He is an aggressive player, but sometimes too aggressive. You see him getting beat because of it or you see him commit a lot of penalties.

Pace and the Bears had Skrine on their radar from four years ago when they tried to sign him as a free agent before he went to New York. He has good athleticism and quickness to play the nickel cornerback. Is he the right guy on this team, however?

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Skrine cleaned up his tendency of committing so many penalties. In 2018, he committed just seven penalties. We need to see if that was just added effort on his contract year or if he worked on his discipline.

The Bears are betting big that having Skrine playing on this elite defense ups his game. In New York, there weren’t many defenders surrounding him that he has now in Chicago. The Jets asked a lot of him. With the Bears, he doesn’t have to worry about trying to do too much. He now has quality safeties behind him and a ferocious front seven that gets after quarterbacks and gives him many opportunities to get to the ball.

Skrine may be penned in as Bryce Callahan‘s replacement but he will be challenged. Duke Shelley was very underrated, with injuries in his final season at Kansas State costing him in the draft, and he has a chip on his shoulder. He’ll push Skrine hard. If Skrine doesn’t match Shelley’s output he could see himself looking up to the rookie.

If Skrine does up his game, he’ll make this elite defense even better. That is scary news for the rest of the NFL. The question is whether or not he’ll do it.