Biggest surprises and likely outcomes to Bears training camp battles

As Bears coach Ben Johnson said very early on in offseason work, no one wins jobs during OTAs and minicamp.

They sure could position themselves for the coming battle, though.

Coaches looked at as much as they could as they taught the offense and defense. When training camp comes the real job competition begins.

Then, there could be surprises because the status quo has changed. A different coaching staff and different schemes can lead to different outcomes in training camp battles than under another staff using different systems.

The battles might yield the same results or there could be surprises.

Here are the training camp battles where surprises could occur.

1. Left tackle

It was left in the hands of rookie Ozzy Trapillo and second-year player Kiran Amegadjie to alternate throughout the spring. The key element here is when Braxton Jones returns from the surgery he had for a broken ankle. It needs to be earlier if he hopes to prevent the younger players from taking his job.

"To me, the number one job of an offensive tackle, doesn't matter if it's right or left, is to pass protect," Johnson said. "You need to be able to block their best pass rusher, one on one, and that's, to me, the number one job.

"Everything we can get out of them in the run game will be gravy on top of it, but we have to find out who the best pass-protector is, the most consistent pass-protector is, and, really, that's for all five guys up front."

Jones' pass blocking was his strength last season according to Pro Football Focus. He ranked 17th out of 140 tackles in pass blocking with a grade of 80.8, his first time in the 80s as a pass blocker. He also improved every year since he has been in the league, going from 54th to 41st in pass blocking in his first two seasons. His pressures allowed went from 40 in 2022 to 32 in 2023 and 26 last year.

Still, they did have Jones up to five sacks allowed last year from two the previous season.

A surprise outcome: Either Trapillo or Amegadjie take the starting job from Jones. If this happens, it wouldn't be a shock if they traded Jones before the deadline or even at the end of training camp. The longer he's out or still rehabbing, the more likely this can happen because Trapillo's strength is his pass blocking as well.

And if you want a real surprise outcome, it would be if Amegadjie won the starting spot. There was no verdict handed down on who performed better when the linemen alternated. They had Trapillo still at left tackle and Amegadjie at right tackle during the final OTAs with rookies and younger players, but there's no telling the significance of this because they might have alternated and had Amegadjie at left tackle and Trapillo at the right side in the other OTAs when media wasn't allowed at Halas Hall.

It's almost safe to say nothing would be a surprise in the left tackle competition, although if Jones was healthy and got beat out it would be a stunner based on his past as an improving pass blocker.

It would also be a positive because it would show the coaches have confidence the winner is actually better than a proven NFL starter.

Likely outcome: Jones starts. He comes into camp and within two weeks is able to be full go while others work with backups.

2. Left cornerback

Tyrique Stevenson's status as starter opposite Jaylon Johnson on the defense's left side could receive a real challenge from either Terell Smith or rookie Zah Frazier. Smith has a couple years experience and Frazier blazing speed.

Matt Eberflus' regime put up with Stevenson's gaffes in between some very solid cornerback play in his first two years. They kept talking about how good Smith was without really rewarding him.

Will these coaches see it differently when the battle begins?

The scheme relying on man-to-man supposedly plays to Stevenson's strength. At least he thinks so, and he feels somewhat liberated after two seasons of heavy zone emphasis.

"I love it," he said. "In most defenses, for the corner it's man-on-man. So it's 'Mano-e-mano, I'm going to show you (the receiver), I've been working and I'm better than you.' And that can take a lot of the guessing out of the game for the corners."

Is he better than Smith and Frazier, though?

A surprise outcome: Smith wins out over Stevenson. This would be a shocker since the former coaching staff always talked about Smith's strength being in zone. Frazier seems much less likely to prevail just because he's a rookie. In camp, though, his speed was very apparent in his play so the raw talent would be there. It's just his base is limited after facing lower competition at UTSA and SIU.

Likely outcome: Stevenson wins, but coaches closely monitor his consistency and maturity.

3. Backup running back

Offseason debate often centered on Kyle Monangai taking over as the starting back. At this point, that seems entirely unlikely because of D'Andre Swift's speed and experience. Not only that, but the battle would look more like one between Roschon Johnson and Monangai for backup plays.

A surprise outcome: Monangai becomes the second back and Johnson is left with very short yardage or special teams.

Likely outcome: Johnson finds ways to use all three backs, first with very few snaps for Monangai because of his inexperience, then getting him a few carries a game. Much was made of Monangai's pass blocking but a rookie running back often finds it much different in the NFL than it was in college, and Johnson hasn't been a bad blocker. He just wasn't used as often in the passing game as he could have been considering how good his hands are. Expect all three with some type of role.

When Johnson had Swift in Detroit, he moved him from load back to backup behind Jamaal Williams. They gave more than two-thirds of the reps to Williams.  Johnson didn't like the way this worked. The next year they traded Swift to the Eagles and had David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs splitting carries. In both the 2022 and 2023 seasons they found ways to get two to three carries a game in to other backs, usually Craig Reynolds. Expect this type of role for Monangai, at least initially.

4. Third linebacker

This isn't a starting role because defensive coordinator Dennis Allen wants his five defensive backs on the field most of the time, if not six defensive backs. The third linebacker is the strongside linebacker in a base 4-3. The Bears have Noah Sewell as their top strongside linebacker, but most teams simply say the base will include the best three linebackers on the field and then sort out positions afterward.

The Bears already know the two starters at weakside and the middle. Who's third best? It might turn out it's rookie Ruben Hyppolite, although he's not exactly the size of your average strongside linebacker. At a generous 6-foot—probably more like 5-11—he would be asked to cover tight ends, running backs and even slot receivers as a strongside if teams pass on running downs. Could he do this? Speed is the great equalizer and makes this possible.

A surprise outcome: Hyppolite wins out as third linebacker. It could happen. Sewell has been in Chicago two years without beating out undrafted Jack Sanborn. The job is his now, but he has to prove he can hold it. The question is whether Hyppolite could be physical enough to take it from the linebacker who is 20 pounds heavier and 3 inches taller.  Again, speed is the great equalizer. It can trump size to some extent and at 230-plus Hyppolite is not a safety wannabe. He's a real linebacker.

Likely outcome: What seems more likely is Allen will play the whole thing situationally and use both. If it's a short-yardage or running situation, he'd have the 6-foot-2, 253-pound Sewell in a traditional strongside role. If they want to cause matchup problems, they could turn to Hyppolite and his 4.39-ish 40-yard speed. He should be able to cover backs, tight ends or slot receivers better than many linebackers could. With that speed, he also could be a blitzer. Hyppolite can create mismatches.

5. Slot receiver

This wasn't expected to be a battle after they drafted Luther Burden in Round 2, a player most people saw as a first-round receiver. However, Olamide Zaccheaus has a lot working for him.

A surprise outcome: Zaccheaus wins it. His experience is invaluable. He's had 40 catches or more twice and last year a high (70.3%) catch percentage. He's always been a yards-after-catch guy with a 13.4-yard average despite running a lot of shorter routes out of the slot.

Johnson already seemed to be paving the way for this when Burden missed all of the OTAs and minicamp with a soft tissue injury.  The fact Zaccheaus was graded among the better blocking wide receiver last year by Pro Football Focus doesn't help Burden, either. Remember Johnson's battle cry: "No block, no rock."

"He misses a lot," Johnson said of the missed spring work. "Any time you're not out there, if you're in the training room when the rest of the guys are practicing, you're losing valuable time; valuable time with your coaches, valuable reps with your teammates, the ability to build the trust that we're talking about. It's not just the coaching staff having trust in you, doing the right thing over and over, but it's also your teammates. They have to be out there. They have to see you do it."

Likely outcome: Zaccheaus starts out as the main slot receiver. It's a big hole Burden finds himself in after missing that practice time. Zaccheaus definitely made good use of it by building up a rapport with Caleb Williams in the passing game. Burden must make up ground in a hurry. Training camp and preseason may be insufficient for this.

Eventually Burden's talent will lead to the main role but Zaccheaus has the skillset to push that point out until later in the regular season.

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