Chicago Bears experiencing a youth movement
Eight rookies already have started games for the Chicago Bears this season, the most since the team began keeping those records in 1997.
And this group is on pace to start more games collectively than any group of rookies in that 19-year span.
The record is 46 games during the 2013 season, in which five Bears rookies started games. Last season seven rookies started a total of 45 games.
This year's crop of rookies already has started 36 games. And that's without any input from first-round wide receiver Kevin White, who only last week returned to practice after August surgery for stress fractures in his left shin.
Safety Adrian Amos has started all 11 games, followed by nose tackle Eddie Goldman (8), tight end Khari Lee (5) and center Hroniss Grasu (4).
Four other rookies have started two games apiece: running back Jeremy Langford, nickel cornerback Bryce Callahan, linebacker Jonathan Anderson and safety Harold Jones-Quartey.
Coach John Fox attributes the booming youth movement to a combination of evaluation and development.
"It starts with the scouting department, selecting the right kind of guys," Fox said. "Guys that have high football character that want to be the best at what they do, and are willing to learn.
"Kudos to our personnel people, everybody involved, coaches, personnel people, and really the kind of guys they've brought in here. They're guys who're willing to work, do it the right way, and I think they're reaping the benefits."
After acquiring the right talent, it's up to the coaching staff to develop it, and to prepare young players to perform better every week.
"Our (coaching) staff, even individually, has done a tremendous job of developing that talent," Fox said. "They've just gotten better. I think it's a combination of both - the right kind of players and the right kind of staff."
Fox and his assistants have said from Day One that if players are on the active roster it's because coaches believe they can play, and they won't hesitate to put them on the field. That goes for rookies, as well.
"The reason they're on the 53-man roster is we think they're good enough," Fox said. "So, wherever you are on the depth chart, when you're called upon, we expect you to perform."
Amos is the headliner of the rookie group. The fifth-round pick out of Penn State is second on the team with 74 tackles.
His level of production at any position is unexpected for a fifth-rounder, but he admits that being the 174th pick in the draft has provided some impetus for his performance.
"I don't have that mindset (of being a fifth-round pick)," Amos said. "If anything, that's like fuel, the fifth-round-pick thing. But it's not like I came in saying, 'I can't do it,' because I was in that situation.
"If you're a competitor, you want to see yourself go higher. But everything happens for a reason, and I'm where I'm at because of it. I'm thankful that it did happen that way."
Third-round center Grasu was drafted with the idea that he eventually would succeed 10-year veteran Will Montgomery - maybe late this season or in 2016.
But when Montgomery suffered a season-ending fractured left tibia in Week 4, Grasu was tossed into the fray. After two starts, Grasu was sidelined for three weeks with a neck injury, but he returned to the starting lineup on Nov. 22.
Goldman was expected to contribute in the defensive-line rotation, given that he was the 39th overall election in the draft. But he leads Bears defensive linemen with 30 tackles, and he has 2½ sacks.
The D-line lacked some depth at the beginning of the season and was further depleted after 11-year veteran Jeremiah Ratliff was released and 2014 second-round pick Ego Ferguson landed on injured reserve with a knee injury.
That accelerated the timetable for Goldman to step up.
"They pushed me, and they wanted me to make plays, and they wanted me to learn the system as quickly as possible," he said of his linemates. "They wanted me to play at their level."
Goldman certainly has accomplished that, which on some NFL teams would make him an anomaly. But on the Bears he's just one of the (young) guys.
Fox says he's not surprised by the success of any of the young players.
"You just try to work every day to get better, improve, and typically you're not overly surprised," he said. "You just keep competing and see where that gets you at the end of the race."
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