Chicago Bears: 4 players who deserve to make the roster

Kerrith Whyte Jr.

It’s no secret how yours truly feels about Kerrith Whyte and what he brings to the Chicago Bears offense. We identified him prior to the NFL Draft as a player the Bears should target for a variety of reasons.

He has a rare combination of size and speed, at 5-foot-10, 200 pounds while running a 4.38 40-yard dash. Those skills were also on display against the Panthers and the Giants. In the first preseason game, he rushed six times for 35 yards including a 23-yard scamper in which he showed off not only his speed but his great contact balance.

Against the Giants, he flashed his power, surging through a pile at the goal line to score his first touchdown. He also had an electric 103-yard kickoff return for a touchdown even though it was called back for a holding penalty.

While the Bears are full at running back and kick returner (Cordarrelle Patterson), keeping Whyte makes sense for a couple of reasons. First, when you’re talking about back end roster guys, you should do your best to keep the most talented players. While Ryan Nall may have slightly more positional versatility, he’s not nearly as talented. Second, for that reason, there is no way he makes it to the Bears practice squad. He’ll easily get scooped up by another team, whereas it’s much more likely the Bears can stash Nall on their practice squad.