Chicago Bears: 3 major roster concerns heading into week one
By Ryan Taylor
The Chicago Bears can’t afford to have many key injuries in 2021 if they want to be good.
Danny Trevathan was placed on short-term injured reserve to start the season. This move allowed the team to re-sign Burns and Christian with Trevathan and Jenkins heading to the injured reserve.
Trevathan is a bonafide starter in the linebacker core, but he has major struggles on passing defense. He allowed a 76.9 percent completion percentage to opposing quarterbacks and nearly a 90 percent completion rate the year prior.
In place of Trevathan, recent signee Alec Ogletree will most likely see the starting field opposite of should-have-been-all-pro Roquan Smith.
Ogletree has been successful in the preseason and practice, according to the beat of the Bears. Whether it be in the run game or putting pressure on the quarterback, Ogletree seems to be able to be capable of both.
Look for Alec Ogletree to be the starter alongside Roquan Smith for the Week 1 game against the #Rams, the team that originally made Ogletree a 1st round draft pick.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) September 1, 2021
Smith and Ogletree are exciting, but it’s difficult to pass on the fact that the Bears linebacker core is talentless outside of those two.
Luckily, the Bears left plenty of depth for themselves in that area. Joel Iyiegbuniwe, Caleb Johnson, Christian Jones, and Josh Woods make up the rest of the crowd. Charles Snowden also signed with the practice squad.
None of these names are exciting, but they should suffice to give the Bears protection on the second line.