Chicago Bears: The time to evaluate other players is now

With a 3-9 record, the Chicago Bears are not going anywhere this season. They now have to look at some players who haven’t seen much time on the field.

This has been a rough season for the Chicago Bears. After starting the season 2-1, they have now lost eight of their last nine and five straight. In addition to the losses, the injuries are piling up. Several players have already missed multiple games and now two key players, wide receiver Darnell Mooney and safety Eddie Jackson, are out for the season.

Going into the season, wins and losses weren’t the priority. Chicago is in the first year of its latest rebuild. General manager Ryan Poles replaced Ryan Pace and used the 2022 offseason to set the foundation for a solid rebuild. He traded away veterans with big contracts and replaced them with others with economic contracts.

The roster is full of players who were basically castoffs from other teams. These players haven’t really made an impact and lack the talent the team needs to win games consistently.

As a result, the Chicago Bears own the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. They will be picking early in nearly every round. That could end up with Poles acquiring even more picks. He turned five picks in this year’s draft into 11. However, the picks he had were not very valuable so he ended up getting a lot of late-round picks. For 2023, he has eight picks, including a first-round pick, something he didn’t have this year. Additionally, he has five picks in the first four rounds. He could wheel and deal and end up with more picks than he had this year.

Furthermore, Poles and the Bears have over $125 million in salary cap space. That is the most in the league.

Combine the high salary cap space and a plethora of picks and the Chicago Bears are looking pretty good in Year 2 of the rebuild.

What happens to players already on the Chicago Bears roster?

There are still five games remaining in the 2022 season. With the injuries piling up, it is time to look at some players who haven’t been seen much. We already saw what happened when the Bears traded linebacker Roquan Smith. Undrafted rookie Jack Sanborn took advantage of the additional snaps he received and is in the mix for the future.

We also saw Dominique Robinson impress. He was supposed to be a project and the Bears wanted to ease him in. Instead, he’s gotten more snaps as the season progressed and is handling his own. He is still raw, but he is getting very valuable snaps that will help him in the future.

Now the coaches have to look at some other players.

OL Alex Leatherwood

Every starter on the unit except for tackle Braxton Jones has missed time with injury. Guard Cody Whitehair missed a month when he was on injured reserve. Center Lucas Patrick hasn’t even played an entire game at his position. He is now out for the season. Guard Teven Jenkins missed two games and tackle Larry Borom missed two games and couldn’t finish last week’s game against the New York Jets.

The Bears picked up Alex Leatherwood after the Las Vegas Raiders gave up him after only one season. He’s been spending the season learning the system and just clearing his head.

In addition to Borom, Riley Reiff also left the game. In fact, Borom was Reiff’s replacement. Michael Schofield could replace them, but he has really struggled when he’s played.

It is time to see Leatherwood. He doesn’t have the pressure of being the top guy in Chicago or helping win games. He can just go out there and show how much he has improved. If he turns out to be good it would be a big pickup for Poles. Offensive line is a big need next year and he is a former first-round pick. Having him gives Poles one less worry.

DL Gerri Green

One of the most disappointing aspects of the Chicago Bears’ defense is the pass rush. Even when veteran Robert Quinn, who broke the franchise’s all-time record for sacks in a season last year, was playing, there was little to no pass rush. That puts a lot of pressure on the secondary to cover a receiver for an extended period of time.

Why not use Gerri Green to see what he has? He has played in just one game, four snaps in Week 10 against the Detroit Lions. He is still just 27 years old so throw him in and see if he has a future with the team. He doesn’t necessarily need to be a starter, but let’s see if he could help in any way, including in a backup role.

With Jackson out for the season and Brisker’s (as well as Dane Cruikshank’s) availability in question, the Bears promoted rookie A.J. Thomas to the active roster. It would be nice to see him get some snaps and evaluate him. He spent all season on the practice squad so now he might get a chance to show how much he has grown.

The coaches already know what the veterans have. They’ve seen enough to know which players should stay or go. It’s now time to see some of the younger players show what they have and see if they have the goods to help in the rebuild.