Already this is a name that is all over Chicago sports, and he's not a first round pick, he's not a foreign superstar, and he's never played in a professional regular season game. Jon Bostic has been the one of the rookie toasts of the town so far for the Bears, along with first round pick Kyle Long. The most recent talk has been of his recently handed down fine, which, if you ask me was a complete joke. The receiver was not defenseless in any way, and anyone who things that fine was warranted really needs to learn what the rule states, including the person who handed down that fine. Another embarrassing fine handed down by the NFL if you ask me.
Anyway, I could go off on that fine for hours, but I'm going to go into the more important things when it comes to Bostic. At the point where he was drafted, Bostic was someone of need. Tyler Eifert was long off the board, and the Bears had already picked one offensive lineman. Now it was time for them to pick a linebacker. Brian Urlacher was aging and an unrestricted free agent. Lance Briggs is starting to age as well (but is still an absolute beast). However, it was time to start thinking about replacing both guys, although at that time most fans, while not certain, were not thinking that Urlacher would be gone.
Anyway, most fans who wanted the Bears to pick a linebacker were hoping for the Bears to draft Arthur Brown, the Kansas State linebacker who had shockingly fallen all the way to the second half of the second round. Some even thought Brown was a first round pick. Brown is a linebacker who is a bit light, but very athletic. However, when the time to pick came up, while it was a linebacker, it wasn't Arthur Brown that was picked, it was Jon Bostic. Bostic is a linebacker that is a bit stout, packing 245 lbs into his 6'1" frame, but he's also another very athletic linebacker. He developed a reputation at Florida for his big hits and his ability to be all over the field.
As Bears fans learned more about him they started to warm up to him more and more. However, Bears fans really started to warm up to him as the great reports came in on him during training camp. Then came the big break for him. DJ Williams, who had been signed to start at linebacker, went down hurt. Bostic's number was called, and he stepped up. In the first preseason game he made some good plays on tackles and running guys down, but it was when he read Carolina quarterback's eyes and picked him off, running the ball back for a touchdown. If that wasn't enough, after making plenty of good plays during the second preseason game, he then made the biggest hit of the preseason. This is the hit that drew the bogus fine. However, don't let the fine fool you, it was a great, hard, clean hit.
That brings us to today. Fans are getting more and more excited about Bostic after each game. As with Jake Long, Bostic is starting and playing deep into games, looking good against both first string players and second string players. Like I said with Long, there is no guarantee that this carries into the season. The starters on these teams usually have their spots seen as being safe while the reserves are...well, reserves. However, there is also no sign whatsoever that Bostic doesn't keep it up either. It's going to be very exciting to see where his play goes.
As for who he is though, Bostic was born in Georgia and went to high school in Palm Beach, FL. He then received a scholarship to Florida where he put up some very solid numbers. As a senior he was on the second All SEC team. His reputation has been as a linebacker with no glaring weaknesses. As seen in the first couple of Bears preseason games, his pass protection does need some work, but it's not in any way a major weakness, and it's only so easily seen because of how well he has been doing everything else.
Another thing that is known about Bostic, as a person, is based on what his teammates have said about him. His teammates have already become a big fan of his due to his demeanor. He supposedly only opens his mouth when he's asking the veteran players questions. Other than that, they have said that he's kept his mouth shut and done his job. At very least, he clearly knows how to give people what they want.
We Chicago sports fans may be very lucky here, going from a great linebacker like Brian Urlacher to another great linebacker in Jon Bostic. However, at the same time he could wind up being average or worse. There is no way to get an accurate gauge on his career at this point. However, so far he's showing all of the things that we all want to see.
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