It's been only two preseason games, but the entire city of Chicago seems to be giddy with how Kyle Long, Jon Bostic, Khaseem Greene, Jordan Mills, and Isaiah Frey have been playing. Corey Wootton and Shea McClellin are also starting to turn heads, as it's looking more and more like they might be turning a corner as well. Although, in the case of Wootton, anyone who didn't notice what he started doing last season must have not have been watching.
Isaiah Frey has gotten his attention mostly through training camp and with how much his teammates and coaches have said that he's improved. However, in game 1 of the preseason he put together a very solid game. Frey likely won't be anything beyond a nickel corner, but at the time he's getting his chance to really show what he can do with the Hayden injury. So far he's taken full advantage and looks like he can play very well as a nickel corner.
Jon Bostic has had 2 of the biggest highlight plays of the preseason so far. The first was his interception return for a touchdown in week 1, and his second was his massive hit on Mike Willie. That hit was not only strong, but it also knocked the ball loose for what probably should have been a fumble. His only major weaknesses so far seem to be an occasional lag in his coverage, but it's something you expect out of any rookie linebacker. Sure, he could be doing better, but to say that he's surpassed expectations would be an understatement right now...unless you expected him to already be a prime Singletary.
First round pick Kyle Long was met with a lot of criticism when he was taken 20th overall this past spring. Nobody could figure out why the Bears would take such an inexperienced offensive lineman at that point in the draft. Many fans claimed he could have been picked in the second round (which we understand now is supposedly not true, and he may still have not made it out of the first round). Well, now we have our answer. As usual, the GM knows more than the fans in these situations. Long's physicality has been off the charts. He looks like he is the most powerful and physically gifted person on the field every play right now. He also seems to have that grit and determination that someone like J'Marcus Webb, a very physically gifted offensive lineman, does not have. The difference in quality is so obvious between those two, showing how much a mean streak can mean to an offensive lineman. Long is not only doing this against second strings, but he's right out there with the first string.
Jordan Mills is also doing his work against both first and second string defenses. Mills hasn't quite turned heads like Long has, but Mills has held up and been very solid so far, which for a fifth round rookie is very good. When he was drafted I envisioned him more as a guard in the NFL, but he's clearly qualified to play tackle.
Khaseem Greene has looked very solid as well. He's making all of the plays and showing great instincts. Some have even said that they're more impressed with him than they are with Bostic. Greene hasn't been playing against first string offenses, but at the same time, whenever a play is made, Greene seems to either be making it or right there to make it if the person who does make the play doesn't make it himself.
Corey Wootton had a sort of breakout year last year. It looks like he will now be filling in for the since departed Israel Idonije. Idonije wasn't a superstar by any means, but he was a solid defensive end that could go inside to tackle whenever he was needed to. I still don't know if Wootton will be able to, or will be expected to be able to go inside to play tackle, but as far as pass rushing goes, Wootton knows what he's doing. He looks like he's picking up right where he left off, and if he's healthy, 10 sacks are not out of the picture for him.
Shea McClellin is another Bears first rounder that was picked by GM Phil Emery that had a lot of people scratching their heads. Unlike Long, McClellin really never made any sort of splash his rookie year, not even in preseason. He showed his great athletic skill that got him drafted to high in the first place, but at the same time he only had a few sacks and didn't look great against the run. His run defense in the preseason hasn't been great, but has looked adequate. His pass rushing has been outstanding. He had a huge sack on Philip Rivers that forced a fumble, and in both games he has been right there as other sacks have been made.
So what is the level of excitement we should have for these guys? Well, I'll break it into three sections. First is going to be the McClellin and Wootton section. With Wootton there is every reason to be excited. He's shown that he can do what he's been doing against first team offenses in the regular season. Even early in his career when he was healthy he was solid, giving Brett Favre the end to his career that I'm sure he really didn't want. With McClellin the excitement has to be guarded. The physical skill is there, there is no doubt about that. He really just needs to refine those skills. In that department he does look improved, but it's just not certain that he'll be improved enough to play a whole lot of snaps on plays where the pass may not be a certainty. However, game 3 of the preseason may change that. If he is able to go in and get to the QB against the first team offense regularly and make a play or two on the run, the optimism will start to go up.
Kyle Long, Jordan Mills, and Jon Bostic are certainly guys where the optimism doesn't have to be terribly guarded. All of these guys are rookies playing against first string offenses. Due to them being rookies, the optimism will have to be guarded, there's no doubt about that. I have not just been impressed with Kyle Long so far though, I have been blown away. I'll admit, the technique is still not quite there yet, but it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. However, the thing that is blowing me away is just how much of an absolute physical beast he is. I can't wait to see the list at the end of the year of defensive tackles and linebackers that he manhandled. I've seen some very good offensive linemen in my years of watching football. Anthony Munoz, Orlando Pace, Andy Heck, Jonathan Ogden (who also started as a guard), Olin Kreutz, John Tait, Jake Long, Joe Thomas, Larry Allen, and so on and so on. Most great offensive linemen are able to dominate the person across the ball from them, but really only most of those guys I listed really did (or do) it on a regular basis. Long has been doing it on a regular basis so far. This is very exciting. However, like I said before, let's guard the optimism, but don't be too afraid of being excited. With Mills, like I said above, he's been solid. The optimism here is a little more guarded because he hasn't really blown me away with anything yet outside of being ahead of where I thought he'd be right now. He's been very solid, not much more, nothing at all less. Preseason is still going to be easier for these guys than the regular season, so the big question will be if he can remain solid once the guys are coming at him harder. The one thing about playing against first stringers is that those guys are usually all but guaranteed a roster spot, so you won't see the same scrappy play out of them in the preseason that you'll see in the regular season. With Bostic, I mean, what else really has to be said. I got into it above, but his only real weakness is an occasional lapse in pass protection. That sort of thing happens, especially with rookies, but even veteran linebackers have that happen occasionally. His problems are ones that can be coached and fixed with experience. As far as everything else goes, he seems to actually read QBs very well for the most part, which was very evident by that pick 6 in week 1. He's looked pretty solid against the run as well. Sure, Matthews had a few big runs last week where Bostic was dragged a bit, but who hasn't Matthews dragged yet (that he's been healthy enough to play against)? Again, as a rookie, you have to be guarded with your optimism with Bostic, but there are plenty of reasons to be excited. With all three of these guys, one of the biggest things to be excited about is that they're all keeping their mouths shut and playing. Sure, Bostic had the celebration on the big hit, but any player would have done that. Supposedly all three of these guys are very popular with their teammates for that reason. The only time they're opening their mouths is when they're asking for advice from their veteran teammates, and after they close them, they're listening and showing that they want to be great.
Lastly we have Khaseem Greene and Isaiah Frey. Green is a 4th round rookie. So far his biggest strengths seem to be his sound technique on tackling (have no idea what the scouting report said for him, but every time I've seen him make a tackle he seems to follow the textbook of hitting, wrapping, and if possible, driving). Everything I see him do is very solid, and occasionally he'll make a very good play. Let's keep in mind that unlike everyone else in this thread, Greene is playing almost exclusively against 2nd and 3rd string offenses. Still, technique is technique, and instinct is instinct. Greene seems to be showing both of those at a very high level for a rookie. Optimism is certainly warranted, but again, guard it, because we haven't seen him play on the first team for more than a few plays so far. With Frey, he might as well be a rookie. He didn't even crack the 53 man roster last season. He was taken in the 6th round of the 2012 draft with the expectations of him being a bit of a project. Well, after a very strong training camp and an injury to Kelvin Hayden, he's right there, the time is now. In the first game I thought he played his role well. In game 2 I honestly don't really even remember him being out there. That can be good and bad. Good in that I don't remember him getting burned badly at any point (although I could have missed it), and bad in that he didn't make any big plays that I noticed. There are two things to keep in mind with Frey. One is that players have had great camps and turned around to be terrible in the regular season. In fact, that's not rare at all. The second is that he's not going to be expected to be an every down corner. He'll likely be in on third down plays that look very likely to be passing plays. He also may occasionally come in on second and 15+ plays as well. Pretty much, when there's a nickel package out there he'll be out there. Still, while I may be optimistic that he can be a good nickel back (although not certain), and it's not a meaningless role at all, it's still not something that fans should be freaking out about. Pretty much, it will bring or keep stability on a defense on bigger passing plays. This is good to have, but it's not like having a tight end that can both block and receive, or anything like that.
As a whole, excitement is okay for all of those players, but keep it both in perspective and guarded. Some guys more than others. With a group of young guys playing this well in the preseason though, the future looks like it can remain bright for the Bears as they (likely) slowly phase in a new group on defense over the next 3-5 years. On offense it looks like they could potentially be able to protect Cutler well now, but again, nothing is certain. Be happy these guys have been so much fun to watch so far this preseason and let's just hope that they're able to keep it up.
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