Chicago Bears Training Camp: 5 position battles heating up

Ryan Nall pushing for roster spot?

Undrafted rookie running back Ryan Nall has looked surprisingly good in camp so far. He’s proved to be much faster than a guy his size should be. He has great vision. Both of those have been apparent when watching him run the ball so far.

Nall is currently listed as the fifth running back, behind Taquan Mizzell.

The intriguing part about this battle for the fourth running back spot — and I do believe the Bears very well could and should keep four of them — is the fact that both Nall and Mizzell are two very different backs.

Nall is more of a grinder. He’s someone the Bears have talked about using in somewhat of a fullback role, but he’s also shown the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield. Nall is just over 240 pounds, giving the Bears a big-time option on the goal line.

Mizzell, meanwhile, is listed at 5-foot-10 and 194 pounds — that’s a stark difference.

Another thought is that the Bears don’t keep veteran Benny Cunningham. Although he has been a great addition to special teams, maybe they view him as expendable. Obviously, Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen are safe. But, when it comes to Cunningham, he doesn’t quite have that one thing he can do exceptionally well on offense.

With Nall, he could certainly be the fullback of this team and give them a push on the goal line. This battle will be very interesting going forward. I firmly believe the third, fourth and fifth running back spots to change at some point.