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Courtney CroninAug 23, 2025, 12:25 AM ET<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>Courtney Cronin joined ESPN in 2017, originally covering the Minnesota Vikings before switching to the Chicago Bears in 2022. Courtney is a frequent panelist on Around the Horn and host of Best Week Ever and GameNight on ESPN Radio. She also co-hosts The Chicago Bears Podcast on ESPN 1000. She previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News as a multimedia sports journalist.<\/p>\n The Chicago Bears<\/a> open the 2025 NFL regular season against the Minnesota Vikings<\/a> on Sept. 8 at Soldier Field.<\/p>\n Training camp kicked off at Halas Hall this summer with all eyes on quarterback Caleb Williams<\/a>‘ development and how the roster would take shape around him, most notably at left tackle. What became a competition involving four players seemed to yield the best option for Week 1 (and the roles for others involved in the position battle) with coach Ben Johnson leaving the door open to make a change in-season if necessary.<\/p>\n Another roster competition took place in the secondary between Tyrique Stevenson<\/a> and newcomer Nahshon Wright<\/a> for the No. 2 cornerback spot. Injuries to several starters in the secondary tested the depth chart in camp and created uncertainty about which corners will be on the field to defend Justin Jefferson<\/a> and the Vikings during Chicago’s season opener.<\/p>\n The roster will be cut to 53 players by 4 p.m. ET Tuesday. Here is a projection for the Bears:<\/p>\n QUARTERBACKS (3): Caleb Williams<\/a>, Tyson Bagent<\/a>, Case Keenum<\/a><\/p>\n Bagent and Keenum split reps with the twos throughout training camp, but the depth chart directly behind Williams will look like it did in 2024. Bagent has earned the No. 2 quarterback spot, as well as some effusive praise from his head coach and a two-year contract extension before the end of the offseason. “Man, he’s been phenomenal,” Johnson said of the former Division II undrafted free agent. “And I couldn’t be more thrilled that he’s here with us.”<\/p>\n RUNNING BACKS (4): D’Andre Swift<\/a>, Roschon Johnson<\/a>, Travis Homer<\/a>, Kyle Monangai<\/a><\/p>\n Whether the Bears had enough in their running back room to create the type of backfield similar to the one Ben Johnson leaned on in Detroit was a question that percolated this offseason. Some of that noise was quieted by Monangai, the seventh-rounder who could be the No. 2 rusher behind Swift. “I’ve been very pleased with where he’s at,” Johnson said of the rookie. “I think he’s a guy that we’re going to be able to trust this fall.”<\/p>\n WIDE RECEIVERS (6): DJ Moore<\/a>, Rome Odunze<\/a>, Olamide Zaccheaus<\/a>, Luther Burden III<\/a>, Devin Duvernay<\/a>, Jahdae Walker<\/a><\/p>\n Burden, the Missouri standout who was drafted 39th overall, wasted little time showing off his elite playmaking skills after being sidelined with a hamstring injury for two months. But arguably the biggest standout among the wideouts in camp was newcomer Zaccheaus, whose connection with Williams is undeniable. Duvernay is locked in as a returner and gives the Bears another weapon out of the slot. The sixth wide receiver spot was between Walker and Maurice Alexander<\/a>. Walker’s emphatic walk-off touchdown in Kansas City and tackle on the subsequent kickoff return shows his value on offense and special teams. The UDFA rookie earned it.<\/p>\n TIGHT ENDS (3): Cole Kmet<\/a>, Colston Loveland<\/a>, Durham Smythe<\/a><\/p>\n Chicago is going to use a lot of 12 personnel with Kmet and Loveland. That was on display in the Bears’ preseason demolition of the Bills when Williams connected with both tight ends for explosive gains on a touchdown drive. Loveland, the 10th overall pick, has established a strong connection with Williams and should be a favorite target on underneath throws.<\/p>\n OFFENSIVE LINE (9): Braxton Jones<\/a>, Joe Thuney<\/a>, Drew Dalman<\/a>, Jonah Jackson<\/a>, Darnell Wright<\/a>, Ozzy Trapilo<\/a>, Theo Benedet<\/a>, Ryan Bates<\/a>, Luke Newman<\/a><\/p>\n Here’s the projected outcome from the left tackle battle: Jones is the starter (for now), Benedet is the backup and Trapilo, the second-round rookie, is Chicago’s swing tackle. It’s possible the Bears keep Kiran Amegadjie<\/a>, a former third-round pick, because he’s young and can move inside to guard, but he’s been on the outside looking in all camp. Newman, this year’s sixth-round pick, showed he can provide depth at both guard spots while Bates is the backup center. Injuries affected Bill Murray<\/a> and Doug Kramer<\/a> throughout camp, so expect the Bears to try to get them onto the practice squad.<\/p>\n Best of NFL Nation \u2022 ‘Camp Glenn’ gives Jets taste of the past<\/a> DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (10): Montez Sweat<\/a>, Grady Jarrett<\/a>, Gervon Dexter Sr<\/a>., Dayo Odeyingbo<\/a>, Andrew Billings<\/a>, Austin Booker<\/a>, Tanoh Kpassagnon<\/a>, Shemar Turner<\/a>, Dominique Robinson<\/a>, Chris Williams<\/a><\/p>\n The strength of this D-line appears to be in the interior with the rotation of Jarrett, Dexter and Billings. Turner will eventually fit into that mix but missed a good portion of training camp with an ankle injury. The depth at edge with pre-camp signee Kpassagnon, Booker and Robinson will help the Bears stay fresh with their pass rush behind starters Sweat and Odeyingbo.<\/p>\n LINEBACKERS (5): Tremaine Edmunds<\/a>, T.J. Edwards<\/a>, Noah Sewell<\/a>, Ruben Hyppolite II<\/a>, Amen Ogbongbemiga<\/a><\/p>\n Dennis Allen said he envisions Edmunds being “an exceptional playmaker” in Chicago’s defense. The 27-year-old certainly looks the part, whether manning the middle or weakside linebacker spot. While the Bears have not publicly declared who’s playing which position between Edmunds and Edwards, Allen utilizing more five-man fronts will rely on this group to provide another wrinkle. Hyppolite, the Bears’ fourth-rounder, has made a strong impression on coaches in the race with Sewell for the No. 3 linebacker job and is a presence on all four special teams coverage units.<\/p>\n CORNERBACKS (6): Jaylon Johnson<\/a>, Kyler Gordon<\/a>, Tyrique Stevenson<\/a>, Nahshon Wright<\/a>, Josh Blackwell<\/a>, Nick McCloud<\/a><\/p>\n Johnson has yet to be activated off the non-football injury list, but the Bears believe he will be ready for Week 1. Gordon returned to practice Wednesday after being sidelined with a hamstring injury for more than a week. The depth behind the starters is a question mark. Shaun Wade<\/a> and Terell Smith<\/a> are on season-ending injured reserve. While rookie Zah Frazier<\/a> was excused from training camp with what the team called a “personal” issue, it’s hard to see him taking a spot on the active roster. It feels like he’s headed to the practice squad.<\/p>\n SAFETIES (4): Kevin Byard III<\/a>, Jaquan Brisker<\/a>, Jonathan Owens<\/a>, Elijah Hicks<\/a><\/p>\n The Bears will deploy quite a bit of dime packages in this defense. The safety group has been rock-solid throughout training camp and returns its two starters and two backups in 2025.<\/p>\n SPECIALISTS (3): Cairo Santos<\/a>, Tory Taylor<\/a>, Scott Daly<\/a><\/p>\n There wasn’t really a kicking competition in camp despite there being two kickers on the 90-man roster. That was officially put to bed two days after Santos booted a 57-yard field goal in Chicago’s preseason game with Miami and the team waived rookie Jonathan Kim<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Courtney CroninAug 23, 2025, 12:25 AM ET CloseCourtney Cronin joined ESPN in 2017, originally covering the Minnesota Vikings…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103628,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":["post-103627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1755929649_562__end_rule.png\")
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