Chicago Bears: Deon Bush making early surge, impressing Fangio

Can Deon Bush keep up the improvement he’s been showing for the Chicago Bears early in minicamp to stay on the roster this year and beyond?

For the last two seasons, Chicago Bears fans have been begging to see signs of life from 2016 fourth-round safety Deon Bush. But in every game action he’s received, it always seems like he just hasn’t been able to put it all together.

Bad angles. An inability to make plays on the ball despite good athleticism and range. Not finishing plays or making the type of big hits many expected of him when he came into the league advertised as a physical thumper on the back end.

That’s why this summer and fall will be immensely important for Bush in terms of proving to the Bears that he deserves a spot on this team.

So far, he’s been making a pretty strong case to Vic Fangio, Matt Nagy, Ryan Pace and the Chicago Bears to that effect.

While going through the performance of the defense thus far in mini-camp, Fangio made sure to single out Bush as one of the veterans, along with Danny Trevathan, that had shown marked improvement. That part starts at around 6:55 in this video.

On one hand, sure: we’re heard that one before. And it also doesn’t entirely matter until the pads come on.

How often have Chicago Bears fans fallen in love with a training camp hero only to see that they can’t hang when the level of competition increases? The answer: every year, without fail.

Also, Bush is going to have a lot of competition for the limited backup safety spots behind Eddie Jackson and Adrian Amos. And there’s a strong chance that (at least) one of that trio of 2016 defensive backs — Bush, Deiondre’ Hall or Deandre Houston-Carson — won’t make the final 53-man roster. So regardless of his strides, his roster spot for the 2018 season is far from assured.

That said, catching the eye of Fangio, and this new coaching staff, in a positive way is a huge step for Bush.

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The Chicago Bears need to see more from Bush than him just looking lost and not being able to execute, particularly when he couldn’t be trusted to match up with anyone man-to-man or hold down the fort in single-high looks last year. With all that talent and potential — he probably has the most physical upside of any safety on the roster — looking unplayable on the field is simply not an option.

Perhaps now, the Bears can start to probe his uses as a future cog in the defense and not just as a special teams player. And again, with the reliable Amos due for a payday this summer, Pace will absolutely be monitoring whether or not the Bears could roll with Bush or someone else as a replacement rather than throwing down a ton of cash to re-sign Amos.

Amos is a very solid player, and the Chicago Bears could do far worse than him next to Jackson. But if Amos wants to get paid like a premier safety, I’m not entirely convinced the Bears do it. And if Bush’s improvement isn’t just a training-camp fluke and he shows off playmaking ability that still somewhat eludes Amos, that’s going to make things interesting.

Yes, I just got super far ahead of the game there. We might not even still be talking about Bush when September rolls around. At the same time, these are real questions and scenarios to keep in mind.

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For now, Bush has done well to stay on everyone’s good side early in camp. Check back in a few months, and we’ll see just how real this development is. But either way, he’s taken the first very necessary steps toward making an impact on this new and improved Bears team.