Chicago Bears: 5 Biggest position battles at 2020 training camp
5. Backup inside right linebacker (right side)
Linebacker Roquan Smith has been a beast on the field. Last season, he missed only 3.8 percent of his attempted tackles. That’s big since he’s been a tackling machine. He has 222 tackles in his two seasons with the Chicago Bears.
The problem is how much time will he be on the field. He missed the Week 4 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. He was a late scratch and there was some concern about him that wasn’t due to an injury. The Bears and Smith never spoke on the matter so we’re left with guesses. Later on, in the season, Smith missed the final three games, this time due to injury.
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Having a good backup is critical. Last season, Kevin Pierre-Louis stepped in and did a great job. He cashed in on that play and left via free agency.
This season, the battle for the backup position pits Joel Iyiegbuniwe and T.J. Smith. Iyiegbuniwe was the Bears’ fourth-round pick (115th overall) in the 2018 NFL Draft. However, he’s only played 26 snaps (23 in his rookie season) on defense. He’s only been a special teams contributor.
It’s time to see what Iyiegbuniwe can do. We were told how athletic he is and how he’ll be a contributor to the elite Bears defense. Well, he hasn’t been during his two seasons. Perhaps they were easing him in on this great defense, but that has to end now. It’s sink or swim.
Looking at it on paper, this isn’t much of a battle. Iyiegbuniwe goes up against undrafted rookie Rashad Smith. It’s a slam dunk, right? Well, I guess the Bears want it to go that way, but since we don’t know much about Iyiegbuniwe’s ability against NFL competition. If Smith pushes him and it becomes a true battle, then that doesn’t bode well for Iyiegbuniwe.
Also, it would be another draft pick failure for Pace. Iyiegbuniwe was touted to be a good enough backup to eventually start but we haven’t seen it yet. If he struggles during his best shot to succeed he could be off the roster quickly.