It has been a little over four months into Ryan Poles‘ tenure as Chicago Bears general manager. However, it has been a hectic start, to say the least. There has been a lot of player and coach movement including plenty of key additions and losses on both sides of the football. Now the roster is mostly set as the Bears begin OTAs. Thus far the word has been mostly good coming out of OTAs. Perhaps the most important of that has been the development of Justin Fields. He has improved his mechanics as he looks to help propel the Bears’ offense and take a leap in year two.
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The Bears Finish Top Seven in Rushing Yards
The Bears finished 2021 ranked 14th in rushing yards. That was with a dysfunctional offense and three different starting quarterbacks. However, this year Fields is the guy and his leadership in camp has been a great sign. Furthermore, the offensive scheme under new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy should be an improvement. The scheme will be geared more to a run-heavy attack with heavy play action. Moreover, the scheme will make things a lot easier on the offensive line. The duo of David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert will get a lot of action. Pair those two with Fields’ rushing ability, and they will pile on the rushing yards this season.
The Defense Finishes Top 10 in Takeaways
Last year the Bears’ defense was only able to force 16 turnovers throughout last season. However, there has been a huge emphasis on turnovers under new head coach Matt Eberflus. In fact, his 2021 Indianapolis Colts defense finished last season with 33 turnovers, the second-most in the league. Moreover, the additions of Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker will drastically improve the secondary. Especially since there have already been reports out of camp by coaches being impressed with Brisker and Gordon’s turnover abilities.
Cole Kmet has Over 1,000 Receiving Yards
Kmet will be the Bears’ No. 1 tight end this year as well as Fields’ No. 2 weapon behind Darnell Mooney. Therefore, Kmet will be much more involved with the offense this season. Last year, he had a solid season, racking up 612 receiving yards. However, he did start the season slow and did a lot more damage in the final stretch of the year. To break 1,000 receiving yards Kmet would need to average just 59 yards per game. That should be doable for Kmet as he looks to have a year three breakout in 2022.
Trevis Gipson Leads the Team in Sacks
Gipson is another potential year three breakout for the Bears. He is a former fifth-round pick out of Tulsa who spent most of his rookie year rookie season on the practice squad before having a much bigger role last year. Despite only starting nine games last season, Gipson was still able to get to the quarterback for seven sacks. Furthermore, the departure of Khalil Mack will make Gipson much more of a focal point for the pass rush this season. Moreover, it would not be a surprise if the Bears wound up trading their 2021 team sack leader, Robert Quinn, by the trade deadline. All those things considered with Gibson’s potential he should have a good shot to lead the team in sacks this season.
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