FINAL Chicago Bears 53-Man Roster Projection

[Music] welcome into Chicago Bears now I'm Harrison Graham We are one day away from all teams having to submit their initial 53 man rosters and that's what I'm going to attempt to do on today's show I tweeted this last night I think this is the toughest one I've had to do since being the host of this Channel and uh that's a credit to Ryan poles and his staff of adding quality death year over year okay so some important upcoming times and dates tomorrow 4:00 Eastern 3 Central Time initial rosters are due the next day at 12 Eastern is when waiver claims will be announced so you got to get those waiver claims in before then and then uh a minute later you can start signing players back to your practice squad guys didn't get claimed uh either from the Bears Cuts or other teams Cuts Etc so those negotiations can start taking place speaking of which normally we go live on Mondays but we're going to go live tomorrow instead uh three central time uh maybe a few minutes after to get our ducks in a row to break down the Bears 53 Mana roster and roster cut so subscribe turn on notifications so you know exactly when we go live not only tomorrow but all the time so uh let's make it happen join us tomorrow should be a lot of fun and of course we'll have videos throughout the day today all right we're filming this right around 11:30 central time which is as of now could change any minute the Bears have 86 players they cut a couple of guys over the weekend Ian wheeler went to IR with a torn ACL so they're down to 86 and instead of just jumping right into my 53 man projection I kind of want to break this down into tiers so I've got 18 players that I expect to get cut it would be surprising if any of these guys made the initial 53 quarterback Austin Reed I think he's a practice squad candidate he's got no shot to make the 53 in my opinion Peter leblan John Jackson at receiver no chance Theo benedet he's a hard KN hero but that's about it don't think Avante Collins makes it Jerome Carvin I thought was pretty solid early on in the preseason but I think Doug Kramer's ahead of him at the sitter position Jaylen Hutchings who they signed recently Deshawn malie a couple of guys I don't think have a chance to make it Michael DW for is a vet he's been on teams before but I think he's falling back in the pecking order there jamy uh Chromo as well chroma we got Paul PA mayola Javin white Carl Jones Jr there's been some buzz on Carl Jones Jr maybe he's a sleeper but I don't think he makes it RH Torrance Leon Jones Jones has had a good camp but just too many corners I don't think quindell Johnson makes it this year maybe he does but I think there's a couple of other safeties on the bubble ahead of him Cameron Lions The Long Snapper now if Patrick scales isn't healthy he could be a short-term IR candidate which in case Lions could make it but uh you could cut him and bring him back anyway if you wanted to and then corus waitman is not going to make the 53 because of Tor Taylor so if all 18 of these players get cut you're now down to 68 players so you're you know shrinking the bubble a little bit here before we get to players in the bubble let's see how many players I have as roster locks so I think the number is 41 these are the first 10 Caleb Williams Tyson bent DeAndre Swift khil Herbert Roshan Johnson could Herbert get traded maybe we'll see DJ Moore Keenan Allen Roman dun and yes Tyler Scott I think he's a lock so four receivers uh Cole KT Gerald Everett marcedes Lewis all three of those tight ends are safe uh Braxton Jones Darnell Wright teev Jenkins Nate Davis Coleman Shelton Ryan Bates Kon amagazi that's seven offensive linemen that are locks Montes sweat Daryl Taylor Austin Booker Demarcus Walker dvon Dexter Andrew Billings and Zack Pickin so eight defens or Chris Williams as well so eight defensive lineman locks TJ Edwards Tain Edmond Jack sandorn aan ogog migga at linebacker that's four of those uh Jaylen Johnson Tyreek Stevenson Kyler Gordon Terrell Smith at corner that's four uh three safeties that are locks Kevin Byer jaquin brisker Jonathan Owens and then your three Specialists with the caveat that Patrick scales could be a short-term IR candidate so uh three locks there you add that up that's 41 roster locks so we were down to eight 68 players after the expected Cuts 41 locks so if you're doing quick math that's 27 players left to claim 12 final spots now full disclosure this is just my analysis I'm guessing those numbers are smaller I doubt the Bears are debating 27 players for 12 spots but I do think these 27 players I'm about to get to have all shown really good things and could be roster B players in the NFL they're obviously not all going to make this Bears team all right drop a name in the comments before we get to the bubble who's a player on the roster bubble that you are rooting for that you want to see make the 53 man roster drop his name couple of names down in the comments below all right let's get to the bubble 27 players Brett rippen now interestingly Enough Tom peliso just broke the news that the NFL PA revised the emergency or vetoed the emergency third QB rule what it was is that you could keep a quarterback on the practice squad that you could dress for every game to be your emergency third quarterback that is now not the case so if the Bears want to have a third be active for every single game day they're going to have to put him on the 53 man roster not sure that changes they're thinking but I think for some teams it will Travis Homer veis Jones Jr uh on the bubble Ki blasen game at fullback DeAndre Carter Colin Johnson Dante Pettis at receiver Steven Carlson Brendan Bates at tight end Matt PRI jyree Carter Jake Curran Bill Murray and Doug Kramer on the offensive line Dominique Robinson Daniel Hardy Jacob Martin at defensive end Byron coart a defensive tackle uh Noah Su Micah Baskerville at linebacker Josh Blackwell Jaylen Jones Greg strowman Jr ready Stewart at corner Elijah Hicks tarvarius Moore Adrien Colbert at safety so again 27 players vying for 12 spots on the Bears roster bubble I assume those numbers are smaller but when I'm analyzing it from someone on the outside looking in who watches this team very closely that's how I see it obviously I'm not in the building I don't know what those conversations are at this point in time time again something to remember we talked about this on yesterday's show that I did from my house the new NFL rule allows to place two injured players designated to return later this season you've seen a couple of those around the league today they would miss the first four games then be eligible to return you don't have to subject those two players to waivers like in the past you'd have to carry through an injured player you want to keep then Place him on ir and try to fill that roster spot but now teams are allowed to protect two players essentially to almost have 55 players initially uh that you can hang on to uh and I think these nine players could be eligible for that Colin Johnson Dante Pettis they've been banged up Larry boram has an ankle injury now Kon magaji got cleared but could they kind of fudge that and be like yeah he's still you know he's still recovering from injury we're going to place him on pup or whatever Ryan Bates has been banged up for weeks so is Jacob Martin zap Pickins just got dealt with an injury unclear with his statuses I mentioned Patrick scales then Noah Su who like amagazi got cleared he actually played in the last game oh my gosh he did not but if they don't think he's going to make the team could they kind of give him one of those fake groin injuries or something like that you know teams are going to use this to their advantage so nine potential candidates that I see could go on this list all right coming up next we'll go one through 53 as I go through my final roster projection after examining the current 86 players and before we do that we got to tell you 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create your account to get $20 off your first purchase only again those terms apply download game time today what time is it it's game time all right we're we're going to go quarterback all the way to special teams here uh two quarterbacks I thought about keeping Brett ripping after this uh vetoed rule I could see the Bears considering him now but I'm not losing sleep if Brett riin gets picked up elsewhere I'd like to have him but I feel comfortable with Tyson bent hopefully riing returns in the practice squad but he gets cut and I'm only going to list out the bubble players getting cut obviously Austin Reed would be getting cut as well all right running back this this is one of the trickier positions I'm going to go DeAndre Swift khil Herbert Roshan Johnson veis Jones Jr Travis Homer gets cut Ki blasa game gets cut I think there's a real scenario where the Bears do not carry a fullback that means they'll go heavier at tight end we'll get to that position here in a minute but um this is kind of a combination of what I think will happen versus kind of what I would do I'm trying to project it base what I think the Bears would do and I think there's a real chance blos and games out on this team wide receiver I got five guys uh DJ more Keenan Allen R Bon Tyler Scott we know they're locks they could go five or six I've gone six with my prior projections but I'm just going to go five here with DeAndre Carter and I think Colin Johnson and Dante Pettis get cut the injuries set them back they just missed too much time and uh Carter I think is the guy they trust the most to be the punt returner and the reason you can go a little lighter at receiver two is veis Jones can be your you know he can play receiver if you need him to and a pinch as well so uh he kind of serves as a bon bonus running back and receiver at the same time tight end now like I mentioned I got four guys I'm going to go Cole KT Gerald Everett Mercedes Lewis and Brendan Bates who showed some good physicality as a blocker has good hands I think you could line them up at fullback and power uh formations jumbo formations uh so he can kind of do it all he'll be on a lot of the Special Teams units I got Steven Carlson uh getting cut I think Bates is a little more well-rounded and we already saw Tommy Sweeney get C cut so uh I'm going to roll with Brendan Bates as a fourth tight end here so another udfa find for Ryan poles offensive line I got 10 guys right now uh starters on the left Braxton Jones tev Jenkins Coleman Shelton Nate Davis daro right um backups on the right Ryan Bates he could be a starter at some point K magaji Matt prior jyri Carter and I'm gonna go Doug Kramer because if Ryan Bates week one status is in doubt you need to have someone who can play center and a pinch uh for opening day so I could see Kramer starting on the 53 and then later getting cut depending on bait status but in this scenario Jake Curran uh and Bill Murray get cut and I'm going to use one of my two short-term IR spots uh on Larry boram which then he'd be eligible to return in week five defensive line similar I'm going to go nine guys with one short-term IR stash that's Jacob Martin but Andrew uh montz sweat Andrew Billings dvon Dexter Senor Demarcus Walker Daryl Taylor who you just acquired in a trade Austin Booker zap Pickins also Chris Williams who you got in a trade and then I think Dominique Robinson this is where I'm guessing what the Bears are going to do uh Matt eberl may have had a fuan slip over the weekend uh when asked if Daryl Taylor would start opposite of Montes sweat he said he expects it to be a rotation over there and he mentioned Dom as a guy in that mix did not mention Daniel Hardy now is that just him talking off off the cuff possibly but I I think they're going to keep Tom Rob and cut Daniel Hardy uh and then with the trade of Chris Williams I got Byron coward getting cut as well all right linebacker another tough one a lot of these are tricky this year TJ Edwards Tain Edmonds Jack sandbourne Aman o I think are all locks I'm gonna go mat Micah Baskerville for the second year in a row I felt like he's performed as a player worthy of making this roster I I just haven't seen it with Noah Su I know he was a fifth round pick last year you weren't going to cut him a year ago but missed a lot of camp this year in the game he did play last week had a really bad Miss tackle at some point you got to ear you got to earn it and I think Baskerville has so uh I think Noah gets cut and with what he's done in two seasons I'm not sure he'd even get claims so maybe you get him back on your practice squad all right Six Corners I debated seven but I'm going to go six Jaylen Johnson Tyreek Stevenson Kyler Gordon Terell Smith is your top backup Jaylen Jones and Josh Blackwell and I think this is just a trust thing the Bears know what they have in Jaylen Jones and Josh Blackwell they've both gotten snaps in the secondary they're both really good special teams player ready Stewart I think is worthy of making this team but he is a udfa rookie uh Greg strowman Jr I know they like but I think it's just a numbers game here you could go Seven Corners and then four safeties I got five safeties which we'll get to in a second but yeah I this is where I have it right here but I think the secondary as a whole as we shift to safety now is easily the toughest one because you know I've got 11 total DBS I think 13 or 14 are worthy of being on NFL roster Kevin byard Jain brisker Jonathan Owens are your top three I think they trust Elijah Hicks he's gotten reps uh he played a decent amount last year he's good on special teams and I think either Adrien Colbert or tarius Moore makes the 53 I've got Colbert making it I think he's a little bit better in coverage and I think there're similar talents on special teams so I'll go with Colbert here I could see more making it I could see them only going four safeties and going Seven Corners but uh that's going to be the toughest to decipher through from the standpoint but that's where I've got my projection and then your three Specialists Santos Taylor and scales again we'll see what scale status is there's a scenario where they may have to IR stash him and uh bring in a guy like Cameron Lions on the 53 we'll see but uh they'll work through that over the next 24 to 48 hours all right predict it for me how many did I get right Harrison got blank out of 53 players correct I think the most I've gotten I think I've gotten 51 before I've never gotten all 53 it's just too damn difficult there's always a surprise here and there so how many out of 53 do you think I got right let me know in the comments and be sure to subscribe we have every news item that drops covered between now and cut down time tomorrow will be live tomorrow as well so don't miss out on the latest Chicago Bears news and rumors my name is Harrison Graham we'll see you guys soon Bear Down m