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The Chicago Bears have high expectations for their first year of the Ben Johnson era. Chicago received praise as the NFL's most improved team this offseason. Now the Bears have to sort out who their best 53 players are during training camp.
One Bears player has emerged out of nowhere in their training camp battle at left tackle.
Second-year tackle Theo Benedet has joined the competition alongside rookie Ozzy Trapilo and veteran Braxton Jones.
“There’s a lot of things to really like about Theo,” offensive line coach Dan Roushar said per Adam Jahns of CHGO. “He’s had probably as much improvement as any player we have in the group. With that, there’s a lot of things for him to improve on, and he knows that and we’ve got to work on it. He is working his tail off. He has put himself in a position to go compete for a job somewhere in this group.”
Benedet is a unique player, who most NFL fans might remember from HBO's Hard Knocks. He is Canadian, born in Toronto, and played college football at the University of British Columbia. He played alongside Lions tackle Giovanni Manu at UBC.
Benedet joined the Bears as an undrafted free agent after the 2024 NFL Draft. Benedet is currently on a reserve/future contract.
The Bears gave Benedet some second-team reps during Wednesday's practice, playing him ahead of Trapilo. This suggests he could be climbing the depth chart just weeks away from the regular season.
Bears fans should keep an eye on all three left tackles for the rest of the preseason.
Bears coaches impressed by “huge upside” of rookie during training camp
Benedet is not the only Bears player with a bright future.
Chicago's coaching staff is excited about the potential of rookie receiver Luther Burden III
NFL insider Jordan Schultz explained on Wednesday how the team is viewing Burden now that he is on the practice field.
“Bears rookie WR Luther Burden III has earned strong praise over the last week for the work he’s put in to grasp Ben Johnson’s offense, along with his attention to detail,” Schultz posted on X. “Several Chicago coaches tell me there’s no hiding Burden’s immense talent … it’s far better than where he was taken in Round 2 … and if he masters the details, his “upside is huge.”
Burden missed much of the team's offseason program with a soft tissue injury. He has a lot of catching up to do to be ready for the regular season.
If he can capitalize on his massive potential, it could be a gamechanger for Chicago's offense.
