Bears Blitz

Recap: Bears Announce 53 Man Roster, Some Surprise Moves Made

Published by Jake Perper on September 5, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

The Bears announced the list of players they cut to get down to the 53-man roster. My prediction of the 53-man roster from a couple days ago was close, but I made some errors.

I honestly did not think some of the draft picks from last year would be cut, especially in favor of some undrafted players who were on the practice squad last season.

One of last year’s third-round picks, DE Jarron Gilbert was on the hot seat coming into training camp. Gilbert showed no reason why he should take Henry Melton or Corey Wootton’s spot.

Gilbert not making the roster was sort of surprising because of his draft status, but I guess Angelo couldn’t put up with his failures any more.

The Bears decided to keep three quarterbacks, four running backs, five receivers and four tight ends. Juaquin Iglesias was the sixth receiver and the Bears obviously didn’t see his value as a receiver or as a special teams player.

So the other third round pick from last year, Iglesias, was unable to beat out Earl Bennett or Rashied Davis for that fifth and final receiver spot.

Keeping a fourth running back in Garrett Wolfe instead of keeping a sixth receiver in Iglesias was simply for special teams purposes.

Clearly, Wolfe has proven to be a solid special teams player, unlike Iglesias, who wasn’t the best tackler.

Iglesias still has practice squad eligibility, so don’t be shocked if they bring him onto the practice squad sometime soon.

Another surprising move made by the Bears was the decision to let G/C Josh Beekman go. Beekman, a fourth round pick out of Boston College in 2007, was at one point said to be Olin Kreutz’s replacement.

The 27-year-old Beekman started 20 games in three seasons for the Bears, playing at both left guard and right guard. With Lance Louis and Roberto Garza locking down the guard spots, that made it tough for Beekman to stay on the team.

Beekman needed to prove his worth and the Bears didn’t see his value because they decided to keep this year’s seventh-round pick J’Marcus Webb and this year’s training camp stud, guard Johan Asiasta.

The Bears believe in those two and they believe in Roberto Garza playing center if Olin Kreutz goes down.

Beekman will definitely be scooped up by a team looking for depth at guard, because he is a nice player to have on the bench. Too bad the Bears didn’t see his worth, because he still does have talent and he could possibly be a solid player.

The last surprise move made by the Bears was letting special teams standout Tim Shaw go. Shaw made 30 special teams tackles a year ago, but never really fit into the Bears defensive scheme.

With the Bears signing veteran Brian Iwuh this off-season, they figured Iwuh could take Shaw’s spot on special teams and provide solid depth on defense.

This move might make some Bears fans angry, but you can’t just keep a guy if he is only one-dimensional. I guarantee you won’t even notice Shaw missing on special teams. Iwuh should be just as good.

Other players cut included: Dan LeFevour, Freddie Barnes, Cornelius Brown, Levi Horn, Kevin Malast, James Marten, Greg Matthews, Quentin Scott, Kelvin Smith, Woodny Turenne, Barry Turner, Tim Walter, Aaron Webster, Eddie Williams, Mick Williams and vested veteran Richard Angulo.