The Chicago Bears are a team that appears to be peaking at the right time. They've gone 11-3 since Week 3 and not even Sunday’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers could put a damper on Chicago’s first NFC North title since 2018.
While there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the Bears' chances in January (and potentially beyond), a Week 18 matchup with the Detroit Lions is their final chance to take stock at the linebacker position, which has been a source of headaches during the campaign.
With injuries and poor performance stacking up, the Bears need someone to emerge. But in the case of rookie Ruben Hyppolite, his lost rookie season is now becoming a full-blown crisis when the Bears might need him the most.
Bears’ Ruben Hyppolite Miss Looks Even Worse Entering Playoffs
The Bears’ linebacker room is in shambles in advance of Sunday’s regular season finale. Noah Sewell suffered a torn Achilles in last week’s loss to the 49ers. Tremaine Edmunds has returned from a groin injury, but his performance has been a red flag beside TJ Edwards (who's battled through hand and hamstring injuries this season as well).
While D’Marco Jackson has flashed, the Bears will need someone else and have been waiting on Hyppolite to join the party. The Bears’ fourth-round pick in April’s draft, Hyppolite has just six tackles through seven games this season. While the LB absences have given him opportunities, he hasn’t earned the trust of the coaching staff to see the field, which has left his development as a mystery this season.
But looking on the pick, maybe that shouldn’t have been the case. Hyppolite was ranked 603rd on the consensus big board at Mock Draft Database which “aggregates data from multiple sources for a balanced prospect ranking.” Considering there were only 257 total selections in the draft, Hyppolite should have been passed over multiple times instead of being selected in the fourth round.
The swing-and-miss has strained the Bears throughout the season and it’s starting to haunt them just as the playoffs are around the corner. There's a legitimate possibility the untrusted rookie could be thrown into a bigger role in the biggest moments of the year, which could create disaster for a team intent on a long playoff run.
At some point Hyppolite will need to step up, or the Bears will need to admit a massive mistake that was made in their draft process. Regardless, his rookie campaign has created an unwanted headache with linebacker becoming a potential obstacle in the way of another Super Bowl appearance.