Bears Blitz

Published by Bryan Dietzler on June 16, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

Training camp is just a few short weeks away and Bears fans are getting excited about the prospects for the 2011 season. 

The team has done some things to improve in the offseason. They brought in free agents like Julius Peppers and Chester Taylor, and their draft was aimed at helping to improve the struggling defense. 

The question now is whether the Bears can put this all together and win next season.  While there is no immediate answer, we can see what players will be key for the Bears to overcome their issues from 2009 and hopefully make the playoffs.

As always, there are certain players on a team that can either help or hurt a team’s chances at improving from one season to the next. There are also those guys that are important to the roster because they help provide depth at a certain position or help provide some solid play on special teams.

The following is a look at five players who will be on the bubble as we head into training camp this summer, and if they don’t show the coaching staff much during camp they could get shown the door at the end of it.

Garrett Wolfe

Wolfe was an interesting pick to begin with and really hasn’t panned out that well for the Bears as a running back.  However, he has shown the team a lot of value as a special teams player and this may make it hard for the Bears to let him go. 

The Bears’ offense is going to need players that can run the ball on a regular basis and block. Wolfe may not make it out of this year’s training camp on the roster.

Rashied Davis

Davis is another solid special teams player that may be losing his position on the team thanks to a bevy of good wide receiver talent that the Bears have amassed over the past two seasons. 

Davis, one of the more senior players at the wide receiver position, hasn’t played receiver that much in the past two seasons, and has dropped some important passes when given the chance to get out on the field. 

If special teams ability is the first thing that the Bears look at when deciding whether or not to keep Davis then he may be safe.  If the young receivers show the coaching staff a lot during training camp, however, Davis could be looking for job after training camp is done this summer.

Josh Bullocks

There were several people that questioned the move that the Bears made last training camp after they signed former New Orleans Saints safety Josh Bullocks. 

Bullocks was an underperformer in New Orleans, but the Bears hoped that he could turn things around in Chicago and help them out at the safety position. That didn’t happen. 

Bullocks got his moments to shine, but he was less than stellar and left the Bears wanting more at the position.

With all of the talent that the Bears have at the safety position now, Bullocks has to have a great training camp, or it’s likely he will get cut at the end of camp.  He needs to outperform a lot of younger talent. 

Can he do it?

Kellen Davis

Davis has perpetually been on the chopping block since his second season with the team. Now, with the way the tight ends are going to be used in the new offense, either he’s going to show that he has really improved his blocking or he might be headed out. 

However, this offense does like big tight ends, and if Davis can learn how to block well then he may be a needed asset.

We know that Davis can catch the ball, but it will be his blocking that dictates whether or not he stays with the team.  If he can’t block, he’s gone.

D.J. Moore

Moore was a highly rated cornerback coming into the league last year and the Bears felt that they were lucky that he fell to them—they felt that he had a great future with the Bears. 

The only problem is, Moore didn’t see much action in 2009 and will have to fight for a roster spot in order to make the team in 2010.

The biggest knock on Moore is his size.  He is only five feet nine inches tall and doesn’t match up well against some of the league’s taller receivers.  He does have some value on special teams, however, and once again, if the Bears decide that his value on special teams is important enough then they just may keep him around.  His will be an interesting training camp to watch.

There are some other players that could be on the chopping block in training camp so this year promises to be a good one in terms of competition—trying to guess who is going to win out in training camp. 

All of this is a result of the fact that the coaching staff and management need to win in 2010 or it’s very likely that they won’t be back in 2011.

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