Schizophrenic’s Guide: Bears Rookie Review…

I, Daniel Trump, watched the Chicago Bears second preseason game about four hours after the game was played because of a scheduling conflict — I had a strategy gaming tournament that same day. I was therefore able to skip past halftime and the commercials. If I missed anything then I missed something — I will never know what I missed.

What I did notice…

The Bears are trying something new. They are trying to build primarily through the draft. They traded for a number of draft picks and used those draft picks on people with strength and speed. It will take time, but it looks like a lot of those players — from both of Ryan Poles’ first two drafts — will be playing this year. Darnell Wright is a solid starter who didn’t play in the second preseason game because the starting offensive line and quarterback didn’t want to risk injury, but most of the rest of the rookies played — and most of them played well. I wanted to review the rookies and how they look so far into the preseason.

Gervon Dexter, Sr. is a defensive tackle who hasn’t had many splash plays yet but who has potential. I know. Some people are down on him. I’m not. I think that he’s learning and getting better. We will see how he does going forward.

Zacch Pickens is a superlative defensive tackle playing at the nose tackle position. He’s doing great work. Last week he had a sack, and this week he had a tackle for a loss. The reports said that he was terrible — a liability — against the run. Untrue in this game. It looks like Pickens/Dexter are the future of the Bears d-tackle and d-line.

Noah Sewell had some decent tackles, too. He’s a strong, fast linebacker who provides depth in case of injury to one of the main linebackers — primarily Tremaine Edmunds. They have a backup if their superstar defender gets injured. That depth was lacking last year, and it hurt the team regularly.

Roschon Johnson also looks like a legitimate player who can contribute to the team right away. When the Bears drafted a backup running back who had potential and was a high-character person I thought: okay. People said that this pick was a steal of a pick that would turn out to be a potential starter for the Bears. I wasn’t convinced then, and I’m not certain yet, but I saw him play in the first two preseason games, and something disturbing and fantastic happened.

He was the first player to run a little tiny bit like Walter Payton, running over people and going north and south. He is a big bruiser, a running back who fights desperately for every yard that he gets on the field. We need that guy. The Bears need that guy. I love the idea of that guy. We will see if he becomes someone a little tiny bit like Walter Payton, one of the greatest bruising running backs of all time.

Tyrique Stevenson had a bad penalty and missed an interception. Fine. He’s a rookie. He needs to capitalize on the next couple chances. He still seems like a solid rookie corner. He still fights for every play.

Tyler Scott didn’t play — I don’t know if there was an injury or what. Neither did Terell Smith. I think that Terell Smith was in competition to play as a cornerback in real, regular season games but can’t stay healthy. Too bad.

The seventh round picks tried hard and did pretty well but didn’t flash or make any splash plays.

Then there was an undrafted rookie who did splash. He’s the talk of the town right now.

Bagent!

Bagent!

I know — he’s overhyped.

He had one great drive.

He’s no Justin Fields.

I don’t care.

He has the potential to be a qualified backup quarterback in the NFL — quite possibly the hardest position in which to find someone. Tyson Bagent, undrafted rookie quarterback, is good. It’s unclear how good he is — but he’s good.

The question: Is he a qualified backup quarterback if Justin Fields gets injured? I don’t know the answer. I don’t know if the other guy is any better — he hasn’t played very well. I want to give Bagent a chance. He has played well enough to deserve a chance.

Overall the rookies played well. I would have liked to have seen the rookie first-round pick play a couple of series to gain some experience, but I understand wanting to protect him from injury. As I write this the Washington Commanders played their ones for the first half and suffered an injury to their star wide receiver. Ouch.

In summation: the rookies played well. They have potential to help the Chicago Bears to win games. Chicago is building through the draft, drafting well, and it shows. They have a strong young nucleus that will try to win a lot of games.

Thanks, and take care, friends.