Roster Projection: TE, OL

[WindyCity]

TE [4]: Burton, Shaheen, Braunecker, Bunting

 

I think the final roster spot comes down to Bunting and Sowell. I think you need to keep Bunting, he may actually become a complete TE and he is clearly a value in the passing game already. I think the Bears will keep Bunting, maybe try and PR him, but they will send  Sowell to IR so that he collects his 1 million and the position switch does not screw him.

 

OL [8]

 

LT: Leno

 

LG: Whitehair, Bars

 

C: Daniels

 

RG: Long, Larsen

 

RT: Massie, Coward

 

I actually think this is one of the easiest groups to project unless somehow Coward doesn't make it. Bars and Larsen both looked good in preseason 1, Coward had a rough game but they are high on him and none of the other OTs stood out at all.

[dll2000]

I bet they keep Sowell if he is healthy.  Not sure I agree with it, but that’s my read. 

[soulman]

I'm goin' with Sowell over Bunting as it stands today.  That might change but on this team a TE needs to be experienced and smart.  I don't think Bunting is that guy just yet.  Seasoning on the PS is what he needs more than to a weekly inactive on the 53 man roster.

I agree on the OL projection.

 

[jumbo]

Many believe that the team will break with 7 OL and 5 TE.  Sowell being an emergency OL in addition to TE.  Essentially count him as the 8th OL, Bars to PS, Bunting as the 5th TE.  

[AZBearsFan]

4 hours ago, jumbo said:

Many believe that the team will break with 7 OL and 5 TE.  Sowell being an emergency OL in addition to TE.  Essentially count him as the 8th OL, Bars to PS, Bunting as the 5th TE.  

Sowell is down to 270lb. No way can he play OL at that weight. 

11 hours ago, WindyCity said:

I think the final roster spot comes down to Bunting and Sowell. I think you need to keep Bunting, he may actually become a complete TE and he is clearly a value in the passing game already. I think the Bears will keep Bunting, maybe try and PR him, but they will send  Sowell to IR so that he collects his 1 million and the position switch does not screw him.

I think you’re getting way ahead of yourself on Bunting, Windy. Being noticeable against 3s and 4s isn’t necessarily indicative of anything, and he also fumbled and was lucky not to turn the ball over in plus territory. IMO it’s hard to roster a 4th or 5th TE who can’t block, especially when doing so possibly means cutting either a draft pick from this year or a core ST player at another position. For that to be justified Bunting would have to be active on game days, and short of probably 2 injuries I can’t see where he would be. If he does see the field it’s gonna be in spots where he’s doing WR type things in the passing game. I’d rather we just use a WR for those things. They’re not putting him in to be an inline blocker. 

Also, you’re way too liberal with the whole “Let’s just put uninjured guys on IR” thing. There’s gotta be something to be able to do that otherwise the team could be risking heavy fines or even draft pick forfeiture, not to mention possible NFLPA grievance filings. Sowell resigned here to play and cut 40 lb to make a position switch that makes it highly unlikely he’d catch on elsewhere - you really think he’s going to be ok with some bull **** IR stint when he’s not hurt? I certainly have my doubts, and how would that fly in the locker room? I suspect not well. Are you privy to some info that he’s in it solely for the money and that actually playing is a distant second? Even if they have a reason to put him on IR with a questionable at most injury they’re creating a best case scenario to activate him in week 10. If Shaheen catches the injury bug again (and I know how you feel about his ability to stay on the field) then we’re likely going to need Sowell active a lot sooner than week 10. Bunting’s inability to block puts him behind Sowell IMO as a Shaheen fill in. 

[soulman]

4 hours ago, jumbo said:

Many believe that the team will break with 7 OL and 5 TE.  Sowell being an emergency OL in addition to TE.  Essentially count him as the 8th OL, Bars to PS, Bunting as the 5th TE.  

Word is Sowell dropped 40 lbs or more to make the move to TE which would put him around 270lbs give or take.  I don't think we can count on him as an emergency OL any longer.

Oops.....AZ already covered this. 

I'll add that I believe some are selling short on Sowell as a TE.  His main role will be as a blocker and that he can do well whereas Bunting got faked out of his jock so badly by a pass rusher it led to a sack on Daniels in a preseason game.  I don't see Nagy trusting him that role with Mitch behind OC.  Sowell is athletic and he can catch.

At best Bunting is another version of what we hope to get out of Shaheen and at least for this year, and as long as he remains healthy, Shaheen will ride in the front seat as that seam challenger and red zone threat with Braunecker backing him and Sowell as well.  These guys all have the experience in this offense Bunting does not have yet.

Edited August 14, 2019 by soulman

[WindyCity]

On 8/13/2019 at 6:58 PM, soulman said:

I'm goin' with Sowell over Bunting as it stands today.  That might change but on this team a TE needs to be experienced and smart.  I don't think Bunting is that guy just yet.  Seasoning on the PS is what he needs more than to a weekly inactive on the 53 man roster.

I agree on the OL projection.

 

The PR and inactive on game day is the exact same work week.

[WindyCity]

17 hours ago, AZBearsFan said:

Sowell is down to 270lb. No way can he play OL at that weight. 

I think you’re getting way ahead of yourself on Bunting, Windy. Being noticeable against 3s and 4s isn’t necessarily indicative of anything, and he also fumbled and was lucky not to turn the ball over in plus territory. IMO it’s hard to roster a 4th or 5th TE who can’t block, especially when doing so possibly means cutting either a draft pick from this year or a core ST player at another position. For that to be justified Bunting would have to be active on game days, and short of probably 2 injuries I can’t see where he would be. If he does see the field it’s gonna be in spots where he’s doing WR type things in the passing game. I’d rather we just use a WR for those things. They’re not putting him in to be an inline blocker. 

Also, you’re way too liberal with the whole “Let’s just put uninjured guys on IR” thing. There’s gotta be something to be able to do that otherwise the team could be risking heavy fines or even draft pick forfeiture, not to mention possible NFLPA grievance filings. Sowell resigned here to play and cut 40 lb to make a position switch that makes it highly unlikely he’d catch on elsewhere - you really think he’s going to be ok with some bull **** IR stint when he’s not hurt? I certainly have my doubts, and how would that fly in the locker room? I suspect not well. Are you privy to some info that he’s in it solely for the money and that actually playing is a distant second? Even if they have a reason to put him on IR with a questionable at most injury they’re creating a best case scenario to activate him in week 10. If Shaheen catches the injury bug again (and I know how you feel about his ability to stay on the field) then we’re likely going to need Sowell active a lot sooner than week 10. Bunting’s inability to block puts him behind Sowell IMO as a Shaheen fill in. 

You do not need a real injury to go on IR. 

He would make his full 1 million + salary vs whatever he would get if he was even picked up.

Bunting was playing against the 2s.

I think you are over rating Sowell, mediocre blocker and nothing as a receiver.

[AZBearsFan]

2 hours ago, WindyCity said:

You do not need a real injury to go on IR. 

I’m guessing the NFLPA would disagree with you. 

2 hours ago, WindyCity said:

Bunting was playing against the 2s.

Most starters for both teams didn’t play beyond the first series, if at all. Bunting didn’t register on the stat sheet until the 2nd quarter, and once he did he fumbled and had a false start. At best he faced a blend of 2nd and 3rd stringers by the time he had the 45 yard catch in the 2-minute still, and his catch in the late 3rd may not have even been against 3rd stringers. 

2 hours ago, WindyCity said:

I think you are over rating Sowell, mediocre blocker and nothing as a receiver.

As an OT Sowell was a mediocre blocker, but that level of blocking ability at TE would be at the high end of what is typical at the position. As for his receiving skills I too am highly skeptical, but I don’t see him ever being asked to be out in routes outside of maybe in the GL package, and as my TE4 I’m totally fine with that. 

[soulman]

3 hours ago, WindyCity said:

The PR and inactive on game day is the exact same work week.

How so?

The PS guys and back end of the roster players play the scout team right.  So he'd be getting more snaps in practice as a starting TE on the scout team than TE #5 playing behind Shaheen who needs work as much or more than anyone.  That's my take on it.

Seems to me the main difference would be his paycheck.

[soulman]

3 hours ago, WindyCity said:

You do not need a real injury to go on IR. 

He would make his full 1 million + salary vs whatever he would get if he was even picked up.

Bunting was playing against the 2s.

I think you are over rating Sowell, mediocre blocker and nothing as a receiver.

I'm getting an odd feeling you don't like Sowell much at all.....or is it just my imagination?

Unless there's some indication of an injury how do you simply put a guy on IR.  The NFL frowns on that and if you do he's out for 8 weeks with no practice before you could activate him again.  What happens if we lose a TE to injury early?  We'd need to sign one or have signed one of the others to the PS anyway.

If Bunting is that guy on the PS we simply activate him.....next man up.

My mental picture of what Nagy plans is for Sowell to be his primary "Y" TE and he'll see a lot of snaps.  Shaheen is gonna be given every possible chance to do some damage from the "F" TE spot doing as a receiver what Sowell cannot and Burton is Nagy's "U" TE moving around the formation like a big WR.  Braunecker will back Sowell and Shaheen and play ST.

So how much work will Bunting even get?  IMHO not enough to have him active on game days because he's unlikely to take Brauneckers place on ST or even be added to them yet.

He had an up and down game against Carolina 2nd and 3rd string defenders and if anything proved he's a decent prospect who needs some coaching and seasoning for a year before he's ready for the show each week.

Sowell can catch and he can block and furthermore he's been on an active roster for most of his career as a backup so he has a huge experience advantage over Bunting right now at a position where mistakes can be very costly.

If we keep 5 TEs maybe just maybe he makes the cut or maybe Nagy likes the idea of keeping Nall for his versatility and his ST abilities.