Key position battles to watch as Chicago Bears get closer to final cuts

The Chicago Bears went back to high school Wednesday night, and for some it was a welcome trip down memory lane.

Visiting with members of the media before practice began at Vernon Hills High School, quarterback Mitch Trubisky remembered his days back in Mentor, Ohio, as some of the best of his life, and other players relived past glories as well.

But once practice began, reality roared back and the focus shifted to this coming Saturday and the Kansas City Chiefs, the last chance for the big guys like Trubisky, Jordan Howard, Allen Robinson, Akiem Hicks, Danny Trevathan, Kyle Fuller and others to prepare for the opener in Lambeau Field two weeks from Sunday.

None of the key starters will play in the final exhibition, and many will be in street clothes.

So while half the players may have been enjoying themselves under the Friday Night Lights on Wednesday, the other half probably were more focused on the reality that 37 of the 90 current Bears are going to be out of work a week from Saturday and they won't get much of a chance to make their cases to stay this week as the already-chosen go through their final preseason tuneup.

Realistically if you've been paying attention you can probably name 45-48 of this year's final 53 without working up a sweat.

But there will be some key roster battles over the next 10 days that are anything but obvious — even after five full weeks of training camp as of Thursday.

Tyler Bray is a Bear if they carry three quarterbacks — historically teams employing Nagy have carried three — but Bray has not been at all impressive in camp and his future probably depends on how many players the Bears have to keep at other positions.

At running back, Taquan Mizzell, Ryan Nall and the late-arriving Knile Davis are fighting for one spot. The smart money right now should be on Davis.

Wideouts Josh Bellamy, Javon Wims, Bennie Fowler, Tanner Gentry and a few others are trying to fill one or two spots, depending on whether the Bears keep five or six.

It is most likely to be six because Bellamy is too valuable to let go on special teams but not good enough to make it as a wideout. Wims might be the favorite for the other spot, not because he's the best or most ready, but because he may have shown too much so far in camp to clear waivers and get to the practice squad.

If Adam Shaheen can start the season on the roster, expect Daniel Brown to join him, Trey Burton and Dion Sims. If Shaheen starts out on injured reserve or physically unable to perform, Ben Braunecker could get a reprieve.

It seems likely that Hroniss Grasu's time as a Bear will come to an end, but what about last year's fifth-round pick Jordan Morgan, Rashaad Coward and Will Pericak?

Charles Leno, Kyle Long, Cody Whitehair, Eric Kush, Bobby Massie, Bradley Sowell, Earl Watford and James Daniels appear to be locks, and my gut tells me Pericak might get a jersey because they can get Morgan and Coward through to the practice squad.

The D-line might be the easiest unit to figure, with Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Jonathan Bullard, Roy Robertson-Harris, Bilal Nichols and John Jenkins likely to fill that room.

Linebacker is really tricky because of health questions on Trevathan, Roquan Smith, Leonard Floyd and Aaron Lynch. Sam Acho, Isaiah Irving and Nick Kwiatkoski are certain to join the aforementioned four, but with eight a comfortable number and nine a possibility, what does that mean for Joel Iyiegbuniwe, Kylie Fitts, John Timu and Kasim Edebali?

The Bears aren't likely to admit a mistake on their fourth-round pick, Iyiegbuniwe, and 10 linebackers seems very unlikely.

It is the most competitive position on the roster.

In the secondary, Marcus Cooper, Deiondre' Hall, DeAndre Houston-Carson, Michael Joseph, Kevin Toliver and Doran Grant are battling it out for two or three spots — probably two because of the linebacker competition — assuming Sherrick McManis and Deon Bush are in good shape.

It's a long list of guys who won't be sleeping very well the next 10 days — let alone dreaming about high school heroics — and they're the ones to watch most closely over these last two games.

• Hub Arkush, the executive editor of Pro Football Weekly, can be reached at harkush@profootballweekly.com or on Twitter @Hub_Arkush.