Chicago Bears: 3 takeaways from first unofficial depth chart of 2019

Just a couple days prior to their first preseason game, the Chicago Bears have released the unofficial depth chart. Here are my three takeaways from it.

The Chicago Bears figure to be one of the league’s best teams this year after going from worst to first last season in which they finished the regular season 12-4. The postseason could have gone better but it’s a brand new season and they have mostly addressed their deficiencies from a year ago.

Jordan Howard and Cody Parkey are both gone. Howard was traded to the Eagles for a 2020 sixth-round pick that could potentially become a fifth-round pick based on Howard’s performance. Parkey, for obvious reasons, was given the boot (no pun intended).

They did a nice job of signing Mike Davis in the offseason and drafting David Montgomery to beef up their running game.

Montgomery, despite his size, is extremely shifty and can make a lot of people miss. He’s also very good in the passing game which was something that Howard was lacking and head coach Matt Nagy wanted in the position. We should get a good look at all three backs in the first game, the third being Tarik Cohen.

The starters won’t play much because it is just the first game of the preseason but Montgomery could see some significant reps. Another group to watch on Thursday is the tight end position. Trey Burton missed the playoff game with groin tightness and Adam Shaheen missed most of the 2018 season. Both guys have missed some time in training camp thus far so guys like Ian Bunting, Dax Raymond, and the newly converted tight end Bradley Sowell should get a fair amount of looks.

Here are my three takeaways from the initial depth chart.