Bears Training Camp: Late-Round Picks Shine Early on Both Sides of the Ball

Plus, Chicago’s offensive line tidies up and Justin Fields gives plenty of reason for optimism.

Today was the NFL’s fake holiday—Back Together Weekend!—and we’re “celebrating” at two camps. First up, the Bears. Here are my takeaways from Lake Forest, Ill. …

1) The Bears restocked the receiver and linebacker positions on the veteran market, with the additions of DJ Moore, Tremaine Edmunds and TJ Edwards. And they may be even deeper in those spots than they’d anticipated, with a pair of day 3 picks—fourth-round receiver Tyler Scott and fifth-round linebacker Noah Sewell—shining early. Both were way up on Chicago’s board, based on what else was available when they were picked, and both look like hits. Scott showed his speed and solid route-running, and has separated better than he did on his college tape. Sewell, who dipped a bit after a coaching change his last year at Oregon, has proven to be versatile, instinctive and fast for the position, and looks natural out there. The bigger tests come when the pads go on, but those are two to watch in the coming weeks.

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Albert Breer’s Training Camp Tour

Tuesday: Lions Training Camp: Versatile Secondary Gives Defense an Aggressive Edge
Wednesday: Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes May Have His Best Bookend Tackles Yet
Thursday: Brian Flores’s Vikings Defense Has Secondary Ascending
Friday: Getting Packers’ Jordan Love Ready to Start
Saturday: Late-Round Picks Shine Early on Both Sides of the Ball

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2) The less-ballyhooed linebacker addition, Edwards, has been a revelation early on, with how he’s handled the communication piece of the defense, and how fast and instinctive he is to the ball. Eberflus has always built strength at that position (Shaq Leonard in Indy, Sean Lee in Dallas), and with some of the churn of the last year, it seems like the Bears have been able to bring in good fits (long, athletic guys who cover a lot of ground) for his defense at the position.

Justin Fields is throwing with more speed and accuracy as he heads into the season :: Daniel Bartel/USA TODAY Sports

3) The offensive line should be a lot better, and incoming guard Nate Davis, an acquisition from the Titans, has been a big part of tying all the new pieces together. And then there’s Darnell Wright. You’ve probably heard the story about his conditioning test, and it’s significant because motivation/football makeup was really where he faced questions pre-draft. The Bears were convinced it wouldn’t be a problem with them after GM Ryan Poles and OL coach Chris Morgan put him through a grueling workout in Knoxville, and assistant GM Ian Cunningham doubled for a third team visit to Tennessee to do some final vetting. So the conditioning test would be another piece of evidence that the freakishly-talented Wright’s bumps in college may have been more a result of what was around him, than they were about him.

4) The line isn’t the only area of the team that looks sharper in Year 2. The way the secondary ties together with a revamped linebacker group is much improved, and the receiver group, with Moore in, is night-and-day from where it was a year ago. Only 15 players are left on the roster that predate Eberflus’ and Poles’ arrival some 18 months ago.

5) Of course, a lot of this is going to come down to the obvious, and that’s the play of the quarterback. And Justin Fields’ tireless work ethic is bringing progress, and resulting reasons for optimism. The ball’s coming out faster, and he’s throwing with more accuracy, and looks looser out there in large part because he’s moving more efficiently (with improved footwork) and the picture of all that’s around him is clearer to him than it was a year ago. Another thing that should help, of course, is what’s around him, and how he’s quickly built a rapport with newcomers Moore (the chemistry between the two has been a real highlight of the offseason for the team) and Bobby Tonyan (who’ll be a nice complement to Cole Kmet and safety valve for the quarterback). Add all of it together, and you get a quarterback with better command—command that will be tested as the team gets into pads starting on Tuesday.