5 Chicago Bears Players With the Most to Lose During Training Camp
5 Chicago Bears Players With the Most to Lose During Training Camp
With NFL training camps right around the corner, coaches and players alike should have all of their travel plans taken care of at this point and be getting mentally ready for two-a-days and 90-degree heat. For NFL teams league wide, this is the time of year for organizations to examine potential problems and discover diamonds in the rough within their current rosters. This sentiment holds true for the Chicago Bears much like the other 31 NFL teams. As a 10-6 team for a season ago who missed the playoffs, the front office—with GM Phil Emery in the lead—decided to go in another direction by letting go of Lovie Smith after nine seasons with him at the helm of the team.
So as the saying goes, “out with the old, in with the new.” The Bears made a few waves amongst former players and league observers this offseason by hiring Marc Trestman away from the Canadian Football League in order for him to install his brand of the West Coast Offense in Chicago.
Now, with a new head coach and a team philology in which the offensive side of the ball is as much of an importance to the team's long term success as the team's defensive unit, Trestman and his staff, have several weeks to properly critique the roster and mold it into a formidable and worthy squad that could make some real noise in the NFC North.
However, no matter how great the coach or his scheme may be, it ultimately comes down to the players on the filed. And for this upcoming 2013 season for the Bears, there are several players currently under contract that need to excel not only through the course of a 16-game season, but also during the hot, humid and muggy dog days of training camp. Because if these players can't stand the heat, they might find themselves out of the team's long term plans, out of the starting lineup, off of the team's roster, and in some cases out of the league altogether.
Here are 5 players with the most to lose during the 2013 training camp for the Chicago Bears.
5. Devin Hester
Either him returning back to his rightful place as the Bears punt and kick returner will do him and the team more good than harm, or Hester having spent the last few seasons trying to learn how to play the receiver position took all that he had left as a dangerous return specialist. With Lovie no longer around, if Hester doesn't show the new coaching staff that he's still got it as a returner then the Bears might be without Hester come opening day's kickoff.
4. Jay Cutler
With this being the last year left on his current deal, Cutler has to enter into this year's training camp like a man possessed. If Cutler doesn't enter camp with a real fire in his belly and a chip on his shoulder, not only could he be looking at his last season with the Bears as starting quarterback, but it's possible that he could be watching his prospects of receiving top dollar at his position come next offseason fade to black.
3. Shea McClellin
A Phil Emery draftee, McClellin has great potential as a pass rusher for the Bears; however, the second year pro must have to have remarkable improvement at the defensive end spot, meaning he should have mastered several new pass rush techniques this offseason in order for the Bears to take him seriously as well as keep him in mind in regards to the future of the Bears defensive unit.
2. Earl Bennett
Bennett will enter camp most likely penciled into the second receiver spot on the roster, light years behind Brandon Marshall. All the same, Marshall is nowhere near Bennett's true competition amongst the wide outs on the team. That honor goes to second-year man, Alshon Jeffery. In order for Bennett to slow Jeffery's ascension on the depth chart, he must show that the chemistry he supposedly has with Cutler from their days in college together is no mere myth.
1. J'Marcus Webb
One of the last remaining pieces of a 2012 Chicago Bears offensive line that stunk up more NFL fields than Pepe Le Pew in heat driving a John Deere, Webb still has the potential to turn into a decent, serviceable lineman in the league. However, if at any point during training camp he gives up a sack (even on an untouchable quarterback) like he was reliving his week two under-performance of the 2012 season, then Webb will most likely spend the remainder of camp, and possibly the season, on the bench.
