The Chicago Bears are two weeks into their training camp. The players have been practicing and hitting each other, trying to impress the coaching staff. However, they get to hit other players in just a couple of days. Their preseason begins this Saturday, August 12th, against the Tennessee Titans.
With a new roster comes a lot of battles. Battles to win a starting job, a reserve role, and just a roster spot. The players are trying to put their best foot forward.
For some of those players, things are a struggle. They just haven’t been able to get in the flow. There is some time left, however, for them to turn things around.
For others, though, they have been flying high. Some of them already have their spot secured so they are going out there and letting it fly. Others are stepping up with the competition.
Having a great camp leads to having a great preseason, no matter how much you play. That then leads to a lot of confidence going into the regular season. They can take that momentum and carry it over and have a great season.
For the Chicago Bears, there are several players who have had a great camp so far. They are playing great and look like they are in mid-season form. They are leading the way so the other players can try to match their vibe.
For these players, the start of the preseason makes it a step closer to the start of the regular season on September 10th. This is the day they can’t wait to arrive.
Here are five of the players who are the most impressive in training camp so far.
Chicago Bears: 5 most impressive players in camp so far
Darnell Wright, Offensive Line
Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles made acquiring an offensive lineman to help protect quarterback Justin Fields. The team expects a lot from Fields but he needs to be upright to succeed.
The last two seasons have been a struggle for the offensive line. The unit gave up 116 sacks in those seasons. Fields took 91 of those.
Poles signed free agent Nate Davis to fortify the interior of the line. When the draft came along, though, there was still a need on the edge, at right tackle.
Poles then drafted Darnell Wright. The Tennessee product had a successful career in college. He shut down a lot of the top players in the SEC, arguably the best conference in the nation.
Going up against the best players of the nation and shutting them down impressed the Bears, as well as the rest of the NFL. Poles selected Wright with the tenth pick after trading down one spot and acquiring another draft pick.
So far, Wright has been very impressive in camp. He is a mammoth guy at 6-foot-6, 335 pounds. Despite that size, he is incredibly quick and agile.
Wright’s quickness and agility probably got even better over the offseason. He accidentally ran the wide receivers conditioning program so he started camp in the best shape of his life. He was ready to roll.
Wright’s ability has impressed his coaches and teammates. One of the things he does so well is recovering once he gets beat. He can get back to the defender and still win the battle. Center and captain of the offensive line, Cody Whitehair noted how Wright “looks the part” with his size yet his footwork is incredible.
Guard Teven Jenkins is amazed by Wright.
"That’s phenomenal the way he does it (recover). It’s just mind-blowing. I haven’t seen it in all my years of playing, the way he’s able to get into football positions after being all out of sorts."
Of course, being a rookie Wright will have his ups and downs. There have been times he looked like a rookie. For the most part, however, he has been killing it in training camp.