The Chicago Bears are in Week 2 of their training camp. The preseason starts in two weeks so the players will be hitting each other for some time. During camp, there will be a few position battles. Last week we took a look at the battle at left tackle. Today we look at the linebacker spot.
The Bears defense is a base 4-3 set. That means there are four linemen on the line and three linebackers. The linebacker spots at middle and weakside are set. Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards have those jobs locked down. However, during the offseason, the Chicago Bears cut Jack Sanborn.
Sanborn did a pretty good job when he played. It was more impressive since he signed with the Bears as an undrafted rookie. In 48 career games in Chicago (19 starts), he registered 164 tackles (14 for loss), 4.5 sacks, an interception, and a fumble recovery.
With Dennis Allen as the new Chicago Bears defensive coordinator, though, the need for more quickness and speed was important. While Sanborn is a tough player who plays hard on every snap, there were times his lack of quickness/speed hurt him. The Chicago Bears made a big decision and let him go.
The battle at linebacker for the Chicago Bears
That opened up a battle. Noah Sewell, the backup linebacker for the last two seasons. He was the Bears’ fifth-round pick in 2023. He has 22 career games under his belt but was mainly a mainstay on special teams. He showed some flashes of talent in his time, but hadn’t been able to break through.
Sewell will have stiff competition, however. The Chicago Bears drafted Ruben Hyppolite II in the fourth round of this year’s draft. He has the speed that the coaching staff wants. At the NFL Combine he ran a 4.39-40 yard dash. For a linebacker that is blazing speed.
Hyppolite possesses the ability to read and react the play quickly. He can keep up with the quicker running backs and can get to the ball on throws made underneath. At 6 feet tall, 236 pounds, he will need to gain a little weight to handle the rigors of the position at the next level.
The Chicago Bears have been high on Sewell. However, injuries, including a hamstring issue that lingered through most of last season, hampered his progress. He is healthy now, though, and is ready to surprise people and show he could win the job.
While Sewell is not a pick by either Allen or head coach Ben Johnson, he has support among his teammates. Edmunds praises Sewell’s work ethic and physicality. If he can show that physicality during camp he could win the job. Hyppolite was picked by the current regime but his lack of physicality and experience could hurt him early.
Allen has an aggressive, downhill scheme. He likes to use instinctive linebackers who play with urgency and leverage. He also likes physical linebackers as well. That could give Sewell an advantage, especially early on.
Johnson spoke on the competition and stated how it was wide open.
We feel really good obviously about T.J. and Tremaine and what they’ve done over the course, not just of last year, but the last few years in this league…That third spot, it’s up for grabs and we do have a prototype. DA’s (Allen) got a prototype for what that SAM would look like. We’re more concerned with, let’s find our third-best linebacker and we’ll figure it out from there.
It will be an interesting battle for the strongside linebacker job. Each player has his positives and negatives. One has to believe that Sewell has an inside track early on. However, if Hyppolite can show that he can be more physical he can end up with the job. Having physicality and speed is something that can take him far.
However, Sewell finally has a chance to show what he is made of. He already has the tools that Allen covets so if he can show his abilities throughout training camp and the preseason games he could see himself as the starter in 2025 for the Chicago Bears.
Chicago Bears’ DJ Moore got busy at a new position on Monday
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