Tonight in Canton, Ohio, the Chicago Bears will kick off the preseason ahead of what is one of the most highly-anticipated seasons in recent team history. And while none of the players who are responsible for Bears fans being so excited for the 2024 season will be playing against the Houston Texans in the NFL's annual Hall of Fame Game, some of the most interesting battles for roster spots in the Windy City will be under way.
Below are five Chicago Bears players whose hopes of securing a roster spot could come down to how well they perform in the preseason. And as is the case for one team each year, fans will have the chance to watch how all of this plays out on the newest season of HBO's Hard Knocks, which debuts on Tuesday August 6th.
Velus Jones Jr. (Wide Receiver)
You can't talk about the Chicago Bears roster bubble without discussing the status of Velus Jones Jr., one of the first draft picks in the Ryan Poles regime, and unfortunately, a pick that hasn't worked out the way that Bears fans would hope from a former 3rd Round selection. Jones came into the NFL after spending six years in college with just one productive season as a wide receiver, so right out of the gate, the pick was in question. The hope was, Jones would continue to develop as a wideout while making an immediate impact as a return specialist.
Thus far, in 26 career games, Jones has accumulated just 281 yards from scrimmage and two offensive touchdowns. He's had moderate success as a return specialist — an average of 27.4 yards per kick return on 38 attempts — but not nearly enough that it warrants the Bears to consider him a roster lock this summer. With at least four wide receivers ahead of him on the depth chart and numerous challengers ready to come for his job as Chicago's primary kick returner, Jones needs to pop throughout the remaining weeks of training camp to secure his grip on a roster spot.
Given the high price Chicago paid for Velus Jones Jr. two years ago in the NFL Draft, there is considerable pressure for this pick to pan out. The Bears will give Jones, who is by all accounts a high characters player, the opportunities needed to secure a roster spot. The Bears have even been lining him up in the backfield here and there throughout the early portion of training camp. The preseason will be Jones' chance to wow Matt Eberflus and the rest of Chicago's coaching staff.
Larry Borom (Tackle)
Like Jones, Larry Borom was a recent mid-round draft selection who hasn't established a strong foothold along the Bears offensive line. Unlike Jones, Borom was selected by Ryan Pace and the previous Bears regime in 2021, so anyone with loose allegiances to the 25-year-old tackle is already out the door. Borom has had his opportunities over the last three seasons, with 39 appearances and 23 starts in his three-year NFL career. He's played snaps at every spot along the offensive line except for center, but has the most familiarity at both right and left tackle. However, familiarity by no means equates to success.
Last season, Borom was ranked 74th out of 81 qualified tackles in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus. He allowed a staggering 25 pressures on just 225 pass blocking snaps. Fortunately for the Bears, an influx a talent along the entire offensive line means that Caleb Williams should be much better protected than Justin Fields was the last two seasons. Unfortunately for Borom, that influx of talent puts him on the bubble as the preseason begins on Thursday night.
Micah Baskerville (Linebacker)
An undrafted free agent who nearly made Chicago's 53-man roster ahead of the 2023 season, Baskerville is back in Lake Forest after spending the majority of the season on the Bears practice squad roster last season. Baskerville did get a call-up late in the season, but only played 21 special teams snaps.
This year, after a season's worth of experience with the Chicago Bears, Baskerville hopes to make the cut for the Bears week 1 roster, and depending where you look, he's got a good shot. Bears beat writers seem to be pretty split on whether Baskerville will make the roster, but to a tee, everyone agrees the former LSU Tiger is firmly on the bubble. TJ Edwards, Tremaine Edmunds and Jack Sanborn are back after starting all of last season. From here, it's anyone's guess.
Micah Baskerville could very well be the next guy up, or he could end up behind some of the rest of the linebackers — Noah Sewell and Amen Ogbongbemiga are the most likely two — who are hoping to find a home for the 2024 NFL season. Worst case scenario, Baskerville ends up on the Bears practice squad for the second straight year. Best case scenario, he convincingly plays himself into that 4th or 5th linebacker spot on the roster.
Brett Rypien (Quarterback)
Caleb Williams has been pegged as the Bears' 2024 starting quarterback long before he was even selected, but the backup job is not at all decided. Tyson Bagent figures to have a leg up given how surprisingly well he performed last year on his way to backing up Justin Fields, but don't count Brett Rypien out of the running just yet.
Bears fans are obviously hopeful that the only scenario in which either Brett Rypien or Tyson Bagent sees the field during the regular season is in the final few possessions of blowout victories, but there is always the worst-case scenario where one of these two is thrust into action for multiple weeks. Bagent and Rypien have identical career win-loss records (2-2) and subpar touchdown to interception ratios, so if their number was called on for more than spot duty, Chicago is in big trouble no matter who they end up turning to. The deciding factor, aside from performance during the preseason, may be Rypien's familiarity with the offensive system that new coordinator Shane Waldron has been implementing in Chicago throughout the summer.
Rypien spent last season as Matthew Stafford's backup in Los Angeles, running an offense masterminded by Sean McVay. Waldron, who before serving two seasons as Seattle's offensive coordinator was on McVay's staff for four years with the Rams, will be running an offense that is similar to what Rypien was learning in LA.
Reddy Steward (Cornerback)
This is the time of the year where every NFL team has at least one player at training camp who is surprisingly making a splash, even though nobody had them on their radar when teams began reporting to training camp in mid-July. Last year in Chicago, it was Bagent, who began training camp as the #4 quarterback on the Bears roster and ended up backing up Justin Fields. In 2024, undrafted rookie cornerback Reddy Steward appears to be that guy.
Reddy Steward was a two-time 1st Team All-Sun Belt selection who led the conference in interceptions (4) in 2023, and is 3rd all-time in Sun Belt history in passes defended (33). He's also proven that he's not afraid of playing physically, as he recorded 113 tackles over his final two years at Troy.
The biggest obstacle for Steward to overcome is Chicago's depth at his position. You could easily make a case that the secondary is the strength of the defense. But Steward has been the primary beneficiary of slot corner Kyler Gordon missing much of the early part of training camp. Steward has taken first-team reps, and even managed to intercept a pass from Caleb Williams during scrimmaging earlier this week. It's possible that if Steward continues to impress, he could end up bumping either Greg Stroman Jr. or Josh Blackwell out of their spot as the back-up slot corner.
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