Predicting the 2022 Chicago Bears 53-man roster after preseason
The 2022 NFL Preseason is over, and here’s a look at what will likely be the 53-man roster for the 2022 edition of the Chicago Bears. The preseason is over. The Chicago Bears finished 3-0. That means the regular season is upon us, and a new era of Windy City football is about to begin.
Some are optimistic, given how the franchise has performed in three games with new talent. Others, like Youtuber Jeff Schlegel, will warn Bears fans to temper their expectations and not fall victim to what he calls #BEARSFOOTBALL, defined as consistent mediocrity, a phrase associated with the Bears for much of the 21st century.
However, being mediocre in 2022 wouldn’t be such a bad thing for the organization, provided that quarterback Justin Fields shows significant improvement from his rookie year. In this case, a 4,000-yard passing season, which a Bears quarterback has never done, is very doable.
That said, the Bears sit at about 80 players after the 21-20 win over the Cleveland Browns, but by Tuesday, that number will shrink to 53. Several players shouldn’t have to worry too much about their roster spot. The rest of them? They will be waiting with anxiety, hoping that a phone call from the organization is telling them to start preparing for the regular season as they have made it.
Predicting the Chicago Bears 2022-2023 53-man roster after the preseason
Just because you had a dominant preseason doesn’t automatically equate to a roster spot, and the Chicago Bears are no exception. It sucks to make a good impression and still not make it, but that doesn’t mean the dream is over. There is the likelihood of the practice squad or another team making one phone call and keeping the goal alive.
The Bears had some standouts, but when you run out of numbers, i.e., roster spots, the math gets more arduous, and the process is more painful. You could risk letting go of a good player that could come back and beat you if his team ever gets an opportunity to face you. So, you don’t want to make any mistakes, even though it is bound to happen.
Now that we got that out of the way let’s begin our rundown of the 53 players who, as of Tuesday, will likely end up on the roster as part of the 2022-23 Chicago Bears.
Quarterbacks (2): Justin Fields, Trevor Siemian
Nathan Peterman had a good throw against Cleveland that helped preserve the win, but the Chicago Bears are going with two arms this season. The backup will be Siemian, a man with a Super Bowl ring and a resume worthy of a quality backup. Moreover, he gets the system, having worked with a variation of it in Denver.
Of course, the starter is Fields. He gets the big reps; he is the franchise quarterback, it’s all about his development to see if he can indeed be the guy, or the Bears may need to look to someone else again. That’s probably not going to happen. Fields’ elite physical tools will be good enough to help him in Chicago, that and his toughness.
Moreover, he is in a very quarterback-friendly system, which was not the case under Matt Nagy. Matt Eberflus has made sure to stay on top of Fields despite coming from a defensive background. Luke Getsy and Andrew Janocko (Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach) have been working hard with him to ensure his success. Good things are coming.