Chicago Bears: 3 things to watch for in first preseason game
Tight End Group
If you’ve read anything I’ve written over the offseason, then you likely know the tight end position group is one that I’ve been both excited and intrigued about. At the end of last season, the prospect of a healthy Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen, along with a likely draft pick, was attractive.
However, a little over a week into training camp and expectations and optimism must be somewhat tempered. Shaheen can’t seem to stay healthy, having already missed some time due to a lower back injury, and Burton has been held out of practice three straight days due to an overabundance of caution after his offseason surgery.
The undrafted tight end group has been a mixed bag. Dax Raymond was thought to be the frontrunner before camp started but has not broken out yet, while Ian Bunting has reportedly taken over the primary backup role to Adam Shaheen so far.
Ian Bunting is the first tight end to replace Adam Shaheen during team. He seems to be the top udfa tight end on the depth chart. #bears #bears
— Dan DeYoung (@CoachDanDeYoung) August 5, 2019
So one thing I will be playing close attention to on Thursday night is who gets the majority of the snaps at the tight end position, and how those two undrafted free agents perform. I’ll also be looking to see whether Ellis Richardson, another undrafted free agent, gets a decent look as he had played pretty well the first few days of camp.