Hill, Hanie make their bids to win job as Bears' 3rd QB

Neither Southern Illinois' Nick Hill nor Colorado State's Caleb Hanie impressed NFL teams enough to get drafted.

But both did show the Bears enough to warrant free-agent contracts, and each has an opportunity to make the final roster or at least the practice squad.

Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton are the only other quarterbacks on the roster, and the Bears haven't gone into a season in recent memory with fewer than three.

The rookies struggled with their accuracy in Friday's first day of the weekend rookie minicamp, but both were more accurate Saturday, when the Bears hopefuls were able to practice outside despite intermittent light rain.

"I thought the quarterbacks threw the ball better," coach Lovie Smith said. "Both have a fairly good arm and both have played at a pretty high level. Both have good leadership ability and all that, and this is a great opportunity for them.

"We have two quarterbacks on our roster right now, so there's a good chance one of (the rookies) will be our third quarterback. There's an opportunity, and they seem like they're going to make the most of it."

Hanie was a two-year starter who led the Mountain West Conference with a 144.6 passer rating last season by completing 64.2 percent of his passes for 2,455 yards with 18 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. He has demonstrated a stronger arm than Hill, who also started two years, during which he threw 43 TD passes and just 11 interceptions.

Safety in numbers: Fourth-round safety Craig Steltz picked off 6 passes last season and 11 in his college career. And at 6-feet-1 and 210 pounds, and the LSU all-American also has enough size and strength to provide physical run support and an intimidating presence in the secondary like some of his favorite NFL safeties.

"(I like) guys like (Denver's) John Lynch and (Dallas') Roy Williams, guys who come up and hit," Steltz said. "And (the Bears') Mike Brown.

"That's three tremendous safeties that get to the ball and get to the ball in a bad mood. Good things happen when you get around the ball, whether it's an interception or it's a fumble recovery."

Steltz, who also forced 3 fumbles last season, is expected to be a leading contender for playing time at a position where the Bears have lots of depth but also plenty of questions because of Brown's injury history and other players' lack of experience.

Answering questions: Fifth-round tight end Kellen Davis arrived from Michigan State with some questions about his work ethic that caused him to slip in the draft. Add to that an aggravated assault charge stemming from a fight at an off-campus party 19 months ago.

But the Bears were convinced he was worth the 158th overall pick, and so far he hasn't disappointed.

"Kellen Davis has been good two days in a row," said coach Lovie Smith, who isn't worried about the character concerns.

"We wouldn't bring any guys in unless we felt good about them being a good part and a big part of our team, fitting in and all that. We haven't seen any (problems)."

The 6-7, 262-pound Davis is a virtual lock to replace free-agency loss John Gilmore as the No. 3 tight end as long as Davis shows more willingness to use his excellent size and athleticism as a blocker.