Chicago Bears: This unexpected player might make the team

The Chicago Bears are almost always surrounded by negativity. They haven’t been a legit Super Bowl threat in a long time but it would be nice to even see them make the playoffs in consecutive years. A new regime is in place in hopes to help get them there.

So far, so good in 2022. The practices are clearly different for the better and they seem like a much more disciplined team through the first two preseason games of the year. Obviously, it isn’t like regular season football but it is better than seeing the opposite in these moments.

There are always going to be players that come out of nowhere in camp and preseason that make an impression. It doesn’t always work out for those people but the Bears are hoping it works out for Jack Sanborn who is making a name for himself during the exhibition season.

Sanborn is an undrafted free agent that signed with the Bears after nobody selected him in the 2022 NFL Draft. He played his college football at the University of Wisconsin. He is an Illinois native trying to live out his dream of playing for his hometown NFL team’s defense.

Jack Sanborn has made a very nice impression in this Chicago Bears preseason.

He made a very impressive preseason debut against the Kansas City Chiefs in the first week of the exhibition season. In the second week against the Seattle Seahawks, he knew he had to keep it going in order to have a chance at making the team.

In addition to being a beast on special teams, he had three tackles and two assists on defense. After a game like this where the Seahawks weren’t able to do much when he was on the field, it is becoming more and more clear that he deserves to make the squad out of camp.

He is certainly not someone that is going to start on defense right away when the real games begin. However, if starters start to go down with injury regularly, he might start to see the field in these situations.

When playing the linebacker position, he has trouble with running backs on passing downs and tight ends that have elite speed. Those are problems that can only be masked by the ability to read a play which is something that he might be able to do well based on what we’ve seen.

On special teams, he can make a difference right away which is something the Bears need right now. They aren’t going to be the most explosive team in the league and need people to step in during these situations.

If he does in fact make the team, look for him to be noticeable on these special teams units. For an undrafted guy, he has certainly been noticeable out there early in the preseason and he now has one more game to do it again. As a local underdog story, he is easy to root for.