With their first preseason game looming this week, the Chicago Bears released their first unofficial depth chart of the season on Monday, and while there weren’t any real surprises, there were still a few notable decisions made by the coaching staff.
Just about every starter was in their proper place on the list. The one question regarding the chart was what to do with Hroniss Grasu out for the season with a torn ACL, and free agent signing Ted Larsen jumped into the starting center role for the Bears.
Rookie guard Cody Whitehair was listed as the starting left guard for the Bears, who will take on the Denver Broncos on Thursday night at Soldier Field.
In terms of notable offensive decisions, David Fales was listed as the third quarterback on the depth chart, putting him ahead of Connor Shaw in that regard. Brian Hoyer was listed as Jay Cutler’s back-up, but the derby for who the third quarterback will be is still ongoing as camp continues on.
On defense, just about everyone is where fans would expect them to be. The defensive line currently consists of Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, and Mitch Unrein, with rookie Jonathan Bullard and third-year players Will Sutton and Ego Ferguson serving as the backups at defensive end and nose tackle.
Among the linebackers, Pernell McPhee is listed as the starting outside linebacker despite being on the PUP list, and Willie Young is listed as the other starter. Danny Trevathan and Jerrell Freeman are listed as the starting interior linebackers.
First-round pick Leonard Floyd was listed as the third-string outside linebacker, but with McPhee out of the lineup, Floyd should get plenty of work in Thursday night's game.
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Rookie Deon Bush was listed as the back-up safety behind Harold Jones-Quartey on the depth chart, and rookie linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski was listed as the third-string linebacker on the team’s first depth chart of the fall.
