4. Cornerback — the starters and the rotation
The job of picking the cornerback unit is a little more complicated. The Bears enter the regular season without former All-Pro cornerback Kyle Fuller. Fuller was a salary cap casualty in the offseason and is now reunited with former Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio in Denver.
That means that second-year player Jaylon Johnson, who had a solid rookie season before injuries cut his season short, is the top guy now. The Bears went out and signed free agent Desmond Trufant. Furthermore, they have Kindle Vildor, Duke Shelley, and rookie Thomas Graham Jr. Those are likely the locks.
The coaching staff has to make a decision on CB2 and the slot cornerback starter. Vildor has had an incredible training camp. He and Trufant are battling for that CB2 spot. Trufant has more experience on the outside. However, Vildor has had more of the attention and the team lists him as the current starter on the outside. Also, Trufant has dealt with a number of injuries over the last few seasons.
Even if Trufant somehow wins that job, Vildor’s play earned him a starting job at the slot.
That leaves the backups. Shelley, Graham, Artie Burns, Xavier Crawford, and Tre Roberson to fight for backup spots. Burns has done a good job coming back from ACL surgery last year. Graham is a special case. He was a sixth-round pick but had a second to third-round rating entering the draft. His decision to opt out of the 2020 season likely cost him in the draft. He could make a bigger impact than a normal sixth-round pick would.
This final game will go a long way to clearing things out at cornerback.