LAKE FOREST, ILLINOIS - JUNE 06: Caleb Williams #18 of the Chicago Bears speaks during a new conference after the Chicago Bears mandatory minicamp at Halas Hall on June 06, 2024 in Lake Forest, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
Three Offensive Bears Players on the Bubble.
Greg Gabriel has identified three offensive players that could be on the Bears’ bubble.
The fact is that, when going into any training camp, the Front Office has a fairly good idea of who is going to make the 53-man roster six weeks from now. Either something drastic has to happen, or an unexpected injury has to come up for that to change. Yes, a UDFA can come out of nowhere and make it difficult to cut him, but for the most part, the final roster is set, at least in pencil but not quite ink.
A perfect example of that was last year when Edge Trevis Gipson had such a strong preseason, but when the roster was finalized, Gipson was gone. Why? He had proved the year before to the decision-makers that he just wasn’t good enough.
While the Staff has a good idea of what the roster will look like, we, as fans, have no real idea. So, as we trek to Halas Hall to watch practices and view preseason games, we have in our minds where the battles may be.
Looking through the roster, I have come up with a few players on offense who will have to have strong camps and more in order to make the 2024 Chicago Bears roster.
Khalil Herbert
I feel the running back who has a fight on his hand to make the roster is fourth-year man Khalil Herbert. Yes, Herbert is a very productive player. When he is carrying the football, he may be the best pure runner the Bears have. His problem is not running with the ball but rather the other two skill sets that a running back has to possess, which are pass blocking and receiving.
Herbert is below average as a blocker, and there have been times when he has been downright bad. He just doesn’t have the feel for being a good blocker.
I have always felt that blocking is strictly a mindset. If a player wants to be a strong blocker, he will be because he will work at the skill. In Herbert’s three previous seasons, he just hasn’t gotten any better.
As a receiver, he can’t be trusted. He is not a good route runner and he has very average hands. When a ball is thrown his way, it’s 50/50 whether or not he catches the ball. That is not acceptable.
In my mind, going into camp, he is the third RB in the group behind D’Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson. Travis Homer is here to play on special teams, but he can block and catch better than Herbert. Rookie UDFA Ian Wheeler is a very good receiver, a very willing blocker, and showed in college he is a good kickoff returner. Both of those backs can do what Herbert can’t. No, they aren’t as good pure runners, but the Bears already have two good ball carriers in Swift and Johnson.
Last, Herbert is in the final year of his contract. He’s not expensive at $ 1.05 million, so he could bring back a late pick in a trade before the final cut-down.
Larry Borom
For a fifth-round pick, Larry Borom has played very well for the Bears in his first three seasons. He has lined up at both left and right tackle and has started 23 games in his three seasons. As a rookie in 2021, he earned the job at camp, but the reality is he has limitations.
Though he has lined up on both sides, he is best on the right side and can struggle when he has to play left tackle.
Because he played so much his first few years, the NFL gave him a salary boost based on playtime incentives in his first two seasons. Instead of making a little under $1.1 million like Khalil Herbert, Borom’s salary has been adjusted to $3.12 million, which is a lot of money to pay a backup who can only play right tackle.
During the off-season, the Bears drafted Kiran Amegadjie and signed Matt Pryor and Jake Curhan. Both veterans have started games in the League, with Pryor having started 24 games in his career. Curhan had nine starts while with Seattle and played for Offensive Coordinator Shane Waldron, so he knows the scheme well.
Both of those players have contracts that are about one-third of what Borom is to be paid. It’s my opinion that the new players have to look really bad for them not to be on the roster.
Ja’Tyre Carter
Carter was a seventh-round pick in 2022 out of Southern University. Coming from an FCS-level school, he was raw but also very talented. He may be one of the better pure athletes in the Bears’ offensive line group. In High School, Carter was a 250-pound point guard on the basketball team and got offers from Mid-major programs to play basketball. That’s what kind of athlete he is.
At Southern, he played tackle but had to convert to guard with the Bears because, at 6030, he lacked the height to play tackle. As a rookie in 2022, he began the year on the practice squad but was brought up to the 53 and played in three games.
Because of injuries to Nate Davis, Carter Last year had to start two games and played in eight others. During the first half of the season, when he got his most playtime, he looked good. We could easily see his natural talent. But for some reason, Carter fell out of favor with the coaching staff. While he started some games and played often in others, by the end of the season, he wasn’t even
dressing. Why’s that? None of us has the answer. During the off-season program, he lined up with the second and third string. Newcomers Ryan Bates, Coleman Shelton, and Matt Pryor were getting a high percentage of reps at guard when Davis wasn’t practicing. Unless Carter really plays well in the preseason, he may be gone in September.
