Chicago Bears: Predicting the 2017 53-man roster before training camp
Safeties
Starters: Quintin Demps and Eddie Jackson
Backups: Adrian Amos and Deon Bush
The Chicago Bears signed Quintin Demps to a three-year free agent contract this offseason. Barring injury, Demps will be one of the Bears’ starting safeties in 2017, probably as the strong safety playing closer to the line in Fangio’s defense. However, who starts next to him is a major question right now.
Third-year safety Adrian Amos is probably the favorite heading into camp. Amos has been a full-time starter for the Chicago Bears in each of the last two seasons. However, his performance has been average at best. A converted college cornerback, Amos is supposed to have good coverage skills. However, he was exploited by opposing passing attacks far too often last season. Amos is not a terrible option on the back-end, but he is far from ideal.
Personally, I would like to see the Bears give rookie Eddie Jackson a full opportunity to unseat Amos as the starter. He is a fantastic playmaker on the backend showing great overall speed and ball skills. Jackson is a ball hawking deep safety who would fit perfectly as the last line of defense in the Bears defense. As long as he comes back strong from his broken leg suffered last season, I am penciling in Jackson as a starter for the Bears at safety. That leaves Amos as his primary backup.
The Bears have a few decent choices for their fourth safety spot. Harold Jones-Quartey and Chris Prosinski stand out, but I have the edge to second-year player Deon Bush. The Bears could choose to keep five safeties on the roster, but if Deiondre’ Hall can show some ability at the position, it could allow them to save a roster spot here.
Bush was a fourth-round pick by the Chicago Bears in 2016. He had an up-and-down rookie season, but he did show off the athleticism that makes him such an intriguing player. Bush is still a bit raw, but he has a well-rounded skill set that fits well as an in the box safety in the Bears defense. On top of that, he has the ability to be a real weapon on special teams. Jones-Quartey and Prosinski certainly have a shot, but with his natural upside, I give Bush the edge.
Kicker: Andy Phillips
Punter: Pat O’Donnell
Long Snapper: Patrick Scales
Two of the three specialist spots are set in stone. Pat O’Donnell was nails as the Bears’ punter last season and figures to take his job back this season. The same can be said for long snapper Patrick Scales.
However, the kicker position could be interesting. Connor Barth is back, but it is not like he is a legitimate long-term option for the team. Instead of simply sending the underwhelming Barth back out there, I’d like to see the Bears give undrafted rookie Andy Phillips a shot.
Next: Players to watch at Bears' training camp
Through his four-year career at Utah, Phillips connected on 175 of 176 extra point attempts. He also hit 84% of his field goals with a long of 53 yards. I am not going to pretend to be a kicker expert, but Phillips seems like an accurate kicker who has a pretty strong leg. Seeing if he can be a long-term contributor would be the right move for the Chicago Bears.