More news and notes from camp/preseason and thoughts going into the regular season:

Expectations for QB Justin Fields are through the roof. He’s a popular MVP pick, whether it’s various NFL talking heads or bettors in Vegas. But from everything I’ve seen/heard/read over the past few weeks, I’m starting to fear that the Jalen Hurts-like leap that so many people are expecting from Fields this season may not come, partially due to factors out of his control. WR Chase Claypool has been out for over two weeks after pulling a hammy, though HC Matt Eberflus is apparently "confident" that he’ll be ready for Week 1. There are questions about how WR Darnell Mooney will look coming off ankle surgery, and now he’s surprisingly been mentioned as a trade candidate by PFF’s Brad Spielberger.

Secondly, Fields’ offensive line is in shambles at the moment. LG Teven Jenkins could miss most of September with a leg injury. RG Nate Davis missed most of camp and may or may not be ready for Week 1. Rookie RT Darnell Wright sprained his right ankle last week, though the team doesn’t seem to be too worried about it. C Cody Whitehair, filling in at left guard for Jenkins, has a "minor" right hand injury. C Lucas Patrick, filling in for Whitehair at center, has missed most of the past two weeks with an injury and is pretty bad even when he’s healthy. Reclamation project G Alex Leatherwood was one of the first cuts on Sunday. The team traded for Dolphins G Dan Feeney last night to add depth.

Then there’s Fields himself. Brad Biggs from the Chicago Tribune said recently that "the passing game was choppy a lot of days in training camp." NBC Sports Chicago’s Josh Schrock said that training camp was uneven for Fields and the offense, with good days and big plays but also struggles, especially in the joint practices with the Colts. There’sa reason whyEberflus wanted Fields to get some more reps in the final preseason game. Can Fields make significant improvements in the passing game, in terms of being able to process quicker, read defenses better, go through progressions and find/throw to the open man, anticipate better and throw guys open, etc.? The Bears fan in me wants to believe (and probably would’ve blindly said "yes" in my younger days), but I really don’t know.

Hey, I hope that my concerns are unfounded, and Fields has a huge year. Is he going to run for over 1,000 yards again? Probably not, but I think he should run for at least 75% of that number. Just having WR D.J. Moore should improve his passing stats. But there is a real possibility that we still won’t know definitively at the end of the season whether Fields is the guy for the future or not, and that’s a scary proposition indeed.

The other big story here is the meteoric rise of undrafted rookie free agent QB Tyson Bagent. He came into camp with a very small chance to make the team, but all he did was impress with his poise, moxie, accuracy, and instincts. The guy just looks like he knows how to play quarterback, which probably shouldn’t be a surprise given that he’s thrown more TD passes than anyone in the history of college football (all divisions). He did it at the Division II level, so there was understandable skepticism, but he was the best of the Bears’ backups in camp, and he carried it over into the preseason games with exciting performances. His internal clock for getting the ball out on time is impressive, he can take off and run when there’s an opening, and he moves around in the pocket pretty well. He’s just a smooth operator, so smooth that he’s put QB P.J. Walker (the backup going into camp) out of a job (he was cut on Sunday). Nobody could’ve seen this coming, but good on the kid for going from Division II to #2 behind Fields.

The pecking order here is about what I thought it would be going into camp. RB Khalil Herbert will start and presumably get most of the carries, with RB D’Onta Foreman acting as the sledgehammer in some short yardage/goal line situations (potential vulture alert). The Bears have worked a lot on the screen game and throwing to the backs more often, so Herbert could get some extra fantasy points that way (if he can catch the ball consistently). Rookie RB Roschon Johnson should get some carries here and there and some work in pass receiving/blocking situations, and he could challenge Foreman for touches eventually. RB Travis Homer should mainly be a special teamer.

Moore is the one sure thing in this group; if he stays healthy, he should have a big year. Admittedly I didn’t know much about the guy before the Bears traded for him, but from what I’ve seen of him this preseason, he is a legit stud. His run-after-catch ability in particular has surprised me. Regarding Mooney, I was as shocked as anyone when I saw the trade rumor yesterday. But (if it’s true), I guess it shouldn’t be that surprising. Mooney wanted an extension. The Bears haven’t given him one, presumably wanting him to prove his health first. I used to be really high on him, but even before he got injured last season, he wasn’t playing that well, and he’s only had one 1,000-yard season. Is he a good player? Yes. Is he necessarily a player I’d want to give a long-term extension to as a core piece for the future? Honestly, not really, not unless he has a big 2023 season.

On the other hand, trading Mooney would obviously be a huge risk. Claypool seems to be injury-prone and can be a hothead when he is on the field. Rookie WR Tyler Scott has impressed at times but has looked like a rookie as well. The likes of WR Velus Jones Jr and WR Equanimeous St. Brown shouldn’t be relied on for much. I mentioned after Scott was drafted that he has a similar skill set to Mooney and that could put Mooney on notice, but I don’t think Scott is ready to step in right now as a starting receiver. To take away Fields’ #2 receiver in such a pivotal season for him seems counterintuitive. No one else has mentioned the possibility of a Mooney trade, so take Spielberger’s tweet with a grain of salt, but we’ll see.

TE Cole Kmet left last Wednesday’s practice on a cart, but fortunately he was right back at practice the next day and was fine. The presence of TE Robert Tonyan may take away some looks from Kmet, particularly in the red zone, but I don’t see too much of a drop off in production for Kmet.

The defense is somewhat banged up as well. S Eddie Jackson, S Jaquan Brisker, and DE DeMarcus Walker are expected to return from minor injuries by Week 1. LB Tremaine Edmunds missed some time in camp, though he returned for the final preseason game against the Bills. DE Yannick Ngakoue made his Bears debut in that game. The starting defense didn’t look very good in limited preseason action. DE Trevis Gipson requested a trade after being buried down the depth chart and was eventually released today, along with CB Kindle Vildor. Rookie LB Noah Sewell had to be carted off in the Bills game, and his status is unknown. Rookie CB Tyrique Stevenson has made some rookie mistakes in terms of penalties and coverage errors, but he’s also impressed at times and had a pick against Buffalo.

For fantasy, I see this as a pretty average unit. The secondary and linebackers should be quite good, but the pass rush (even with Ngakoue) is still lacking, and run defense could be a question mark as well. Rookie tackles DT Gervon Dexter and DT Zachh Pickens are going to be relied on quite a bit to rush the passer and be solid against the run. Pickens definitely flashed more in camp/preseason than Dexter did, though Dexter’s physical gifts are evident.

PK Cairo Santos was solid in the preseason, making all of his kicks. He also worked in the offseason on making longer kicks.

I will return next week with a preview of week #1!

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