Chicago Bears: What and who to watch for at 2019 Senior Bowl

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Guys like Damian Williams and C.J Anderson have proven that you don’t need a stalwart running back to have a high flying offense in the NFL.

Both Williams and Anderson were late-season additions to both the Kansas City Chiefs and L.A Rams. Why are they relevant? Because both guys were huge cogs in their respective teams’ success down the regular season stretch.

More importantly, they weren’t super high draft picks and came on the cheap. That’s the way things go in today’s NFL; you don’t need to break the bank or anything to find a dynamo running back.

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Running backs are everywhere, from serviceable to studly, you don’t need to look around hard enough to find them. Speaking of not hard to find, there are plenty of guys who could be around when the Bears pick in the middle rounds of the draft.

Here are the guys who I like the most:

Karan Higdon, University of Michigan: I like what Higdon brings to the table as an NFL prospect. He was the de facto leader in the Wolverine’s backfield last season, accounting for 1,178 yards at a 5.3 yards per carry clip with 10 touchdowns. He never really offered much as a receiving threat, mostly due to backup Chris Evans’ ability to run routes. Higdon might be more Jordan Howard than Tarik Cohen, but he can bulldoze his way for nice chunk gains on early downs. He has some lowkey quickness and shiftiness to his game, something that was on display during Thursday’s drills with Jon Gruden’s squad. Higdon also was a monster in pass protection. A strong week could make him a third-round player at best, which means the Bears just might get a crack at him.

Wes Hills, Slippery Rock: Hills was someone I completely missed in my NFLPA Bowl preview. Seeing how he beasted the competition, I feel foolish for not doing my homework. He averaged 7.0 yards per tote in 2018 for 1,714 yards with 17 touchdowns and had 28 receptions for 193 yards last year. The small school standout showed out at practices last week was promptly added to the Senior Bowl lineup. He also took home MVP honors last weekend at the showcase in Pasadena. He actually played for three years at the University of Delaware and was able to get an additional year of eligibility given that he was ‘dropping’ down to Division II. It’ll make it easier to not confuse him with Higdon (Delaware and Michigan have similar helmet designs).

Dexter Williams, University of Notre Dame: Williams was in hot water to start the season as he served a four-game suspension due to a violation of team rules. Regardless, his return was more than welcomed, as he tallied 995 yards on 158 attempts for 12 scores as the one year as the lead back. He added 16 receptions for 133 yards and one TD. Should he display those receiving chops this week and on Saturday’s showdown, he could really do himself a favor from a draft stock standpoint. Similarly to Higdon, he ran well in Thursday’s practices. He could possibly play his way out of the middle rounds and, in doing so, out of the Bear’s hands.

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