Predicting what Bears final 53-man roster may look like
The preseason is in the books. The Bears finished a perfect exhibition season with a win, 21-20, over the Cleveland Browns on Saturday at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland.
General manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus must now whittle down the roster from 80 players to 53 by 3 p.m. Tuesday.
It's always a tough task for NFL front offices.
Teams can keep an additional 16 players on the practice squad, but any player who doesn't make the 53-man roster must clear waivers before the Bears can sign them to the practice squad. So any player who doesn't make the roster Tuesday is at risk of being plucked by another team.
A couple of injury assumptions have to be made. This list assumes that receiver N'Keal Harry will go on injured reserve and will miss at least the first four games of the season. Harry had surgery on his ankle this month and is expected to be out until at least early October.
Center Lucas Patrick injured his hand early in training camp. He is also a candidate for injured reserve, however, he appears more likely to return within the first few weeks, so this projection has him on the active roster.
Below is our 53-man roster projection.
Quarterbacks (two): Justin Fields, Trevor Siemian
Running back (four): David Montgomery, Khalil Herbert, Trestan Ebner, Darrynton Evans
Fullback (one): Khari Blasingame
Wide receiver (six): Darnell Mooney, Equanimeous St. Brown, Velus Jones Jr., Byron Pringle, Dante Pettis, N'Keal Harry (Harry to injured reserve)
Tight end (three): Cole Kmet, Ryan Griffin, James O'Shaughnessy
Offensive line (nine): Braxton Jones, Cody Whitehair, Lucas Patrick, Teven Jenkins, Larry Borom, Michael Schofield, Riley Reiff, Sam Mustipher, Ja'Tyre Carter
Defensive line (nine): Robert Quinn, Trevis Gipson, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Mario Edwards Jr., Dominique Robinson, Justin Jones, Angelo Blackson, Khyiris Tonga, Trevon Coley
Linebacker (five): Roquan Smith, Nicholas Morrow, Joe Thomas, Matthew Adams, Jack Sanborn
Cornerback (six): Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Kindle Vildor, Duke Shelley, Tavon Young, Lamar Jackson
Safety (five): Eddie Jackson, Jaquan Brisker, DeAndre Houston-Carson, Dane Cruikshank, Elijah Hicks
Special teams (three): Cairo Santos (K), Trenton Gills (P), Patrick Scales (LS)
Roster breakdown
Some of the top names who didn't make the roster include linebacker Caleb Johnson, rookie lineman Zachary Thomas, pass rusher Charles Snowden, defensive tackle Micah Dew-Treadway and cornerback Thomas Graham Jr.
Graham and cornerback Tavon Young (who is projected to make the cut) both play slot corner, but have not played the entire preseason. Without knowing the true extent of their injuries, it's hard to say what the Bears might be thinking. We predict Young makes the active roster because he's a veteran. Graham is a prime candidate for the practice squad. Those two could easily be flipped, though.
Undrafted rookie tight end Chase Allen is a nice prospect, but the position is crowded with veterans ahead of him. He is certainly a practice squad target.
The Bears will likely keep only two quarterbacks on the active roster, but keep Nathan Peterman on the practice squad.
With Braxton Jones, Teven Jenkins and Larry Borom all in the starting lineup on the offensive line, veterans Riley Reiff and Michael Schofield are on the bench. Reiff can be the first tackle off the bench on either side. Should the Bears need to go deeper than that, Jenkins could slide over to tackle in an emergency.
The wide receiver position is very thin due to injuries. If there's one position the Bears will be scouring the waiver wire for, it's probably receiver.