Bears 53-man Roster Predictions: Week 2 Preseason Edition

We’re two preseason games into the three-game 2026 preseason, and the Chicago Bears are inching closer towards the final decisions that go into making the 53-man roster.

Players currently on the 90-man squad have one last game to stake their claim on a spot on the active roster. Considering most of the spots on the team are essentially set in stone, though, there are only a single-digit amount of roster spots that are realistically up for grabs.

For the sake of predictability, these roster projections don’t take into account the possibility of the Bears claiming anybody off of waivers, nor do they take into account the possibility they sign somebody from a different team to join their practice squad. It’s highly likely at least one of those two outcomes will happen, but with over 1,000 new free agents hitting the market, it would be impossible to predict which players Chicago should add.

Without further ado, these are my updated projections for the Bears’ 53-man roster.

QB (3): Caleb Williams, Tyson Bagent, Case Keenum

I’m not expecting any change from the Bears’ quarterback room last year. The only other quarterback currently on the team is Miller Moss, and he hasn’t performed well enough in the preseason to usurp Case Keenum for that third-string spot.

RB (3): D’Andre Swift, Kyle Monangai, Roschon Johnson

The Bears carried four running backs on their roster last year, but they don’t have a special teams ace in the bunch like they had with Travis Homer in 2025. If they keep a fourth running back on the team, though, I’d keep an eye on Salvon Ahmed. He had a special teams tackle against the Bengals on Saturday and is averaging 6.6 yards per carry to Brittain Brown’s 1.4.

WR (6): Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, Kalif Raymond, Jahdae Walker, Zavion Thomas, Scotty Miller

Barring injury, the Bears’ top five wide receiver spots seem pretty locked in. The real question is which player will take that WR6 spot, if Chicago even employs six receivers on the 53-man roster at all. In my opinion, Kaden Davis has looked the best of the remaining receivers when you factor in receiving ability and special teams value. However, Davis also has practice squad eligibility, whereas players like Scotty Miller or Maurice Alexander would eat into how many veterans they’re allowed to have on the practice squad. I have Miller making the cut for his special teams value, though if you wanted to put Davis here, I wouldn’t complain at all.

TE (4): Colston Loveland, Cole Kmet, Sam Roush, Hayden Large

With the anticipation that the Bears will run more 13 personnel in 2026, it would make sense for them to keep four tight ends on the roster. They’ll need to keep that element of their offensive game plan in tact if one of Colston Loveland, Cole Kmet, or Sam Roush go down with an injury. My choice for the TE4 role is Hayden Large, who has put together some solid run-blocking tape while tallying two special teams tackles against the Browns in the Bears’ preseason opener.

OT (4): Ozzy Trapilo, Darnell Wright, Braxton Jones, Theo Benedet

With Ozzy Trapilo likely to be ready for Week 1, at least one of Jedrick Wills Jr. or Kiran Amegadjie will be on the outside looking in on the Bears’ 53-man roster. They won’t keep six offensive tackles on the roster, but there’s no guarantee they’ll keep five offensive tackles on the team, either. Braxton Jones makes the cut as a backup due to his contract, while Theo Benedet has outperformed the other backup tackles on the roster this preseason, in my opinion.

OG (4): Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson, Luke Newman, Jordan McFadden

There aren’t any real surprises with the Bears’ guard group. There’s a chance that Caden “Vanilla Gorilla” Barnett could make the cut here as a backup, but Chicago might like its chances of retaining him on the practice squad. Luke Newman and Jordan McFadden have shown in flashes that they can be solid backups at the next level.

C (2): Garrett Bradbury, Logan Jones

This one’s chalk. Garrett Bradbury is the Bears’ projected starting center in Week 1, while Logan Jones was their second-round pick this year. There’s nothing to see here.

DE (5): Montez Sweat, Dayo Odeyingbo, Austin Booker, Daniel Hardy, Marcus Davenport

If Shemar Turner is in a good enough spot to make the Bears’ 53-man roster, he’ll have a spot on the team. However, he’s still on the PUP list as of this writing, and rather than project when he’ll be healthy by without having that information, I’ll play it safe. Marcus Davenport is coming off a rough year with the Lions, during which he placed No. 118 among 120 qualified NFL edge rushers in PFN EDGE Impact Scoring, but his experience with Dennis Allen’s system could make him a serviceable stopgap EDGE5 until Turner comes back. If you want to reward Jamree Kromah with a roster spot for his performance this preseason, I’d be totally on board. I just have him on the practice squad because he has no eligibility restrictions there.

DT (5): Gervon Dexter Sr., Grady Jarrett, Neville Gallimore, Jordan van den Berg, Kentavius Street

These first three defensive tackles are set in stone, and Jordan van den Berg has been too good in training camp and the preseason to not make the Bears’ 53-man roster. Kentavius Street finds himself on the fringe of making the squad with van den Berg’s strong play recently, but he’s still listed as one of Chicago’s second-string defensive tackles. That may not mean anything, but to me, it shows he could be decent bet to make the 53-man squad.

LB (5): Devin Bush, T.J. Edwards, D’Marco Jackson, Jack Sanborn, Ruben Hyppolite II

Injuries to Noah Sewell and Keyshaun Elliott should leave these five linebackers in a safe spot to make the Bears’ roster. Once both of them come back healthy, general manager Ryan Poles will have some tough decisions to make. Personally, I think Sewell would be the one linebacker of the aforementioned seven who would find himself on the way out, though Hyppolite was shaky in the Bengals game after a strong outing against Cleveland.

CB (5): Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, Malik Muhammad, Terell Smith, Josh Blackwell

It feels like there’s no end in sight to the Kyler Gordon saga in Chicago. Solely because of a lack of transparency around the situation, I don’t feel comfortable projecting him to come off the PUP list. This would likely slide Malik Muhammad inside as the Bears’ starting nickel cornerback, though Josh Blackwell and safety Cam Lewis could compete for snaps, as well. Terell Smith feels like a safe bet to make the team after missing all of 2025 due to injury.

S (4): Dillon Thieneman, Xavier Woods, Cam Lewis, Jaylon Jones

Jaylon Jones is currently listed as a safety on the Bears’ depth chart, and though he’s taken most of his NFL snaps as an outside cornerback, that positional versatility could help him make the 53-man roster. Injuries to Coby Bryant and Elijah Hicks have Chicago thin at safety, so if Jones could take snaps there, he’d be a safe bet to make the team, having appeared in 15 games for the team last year.

ST (3): Cairo Santos, Tory Taylor, Beau Gardner

These three players are the only specialists the Bears have on the roster. There’s an outside chance they could look for a new long snapper on the waiver wire — Beau Gardner had a bad snap on Cairo Santos’ missed field goal against the Browns, after all — but since I’m not projecting outside additions here, this is what you get.

PUP list: Kyler Gordon, Elijah Hicks, Shemar Turner, Noah Sewell, Keyshaun Elliott

Injured reserve: Coby Bryant, Jonathan Garvin, Dallis Flowers, Nikola Kalinic

Practice squad (16 with 6 veterans): RB Salvon Ahmed (V), WR Maurice Alexander (V), WR Kaden Davis, OT Jedrick Wills Jr. (V), OT Kiran Amegadjie (V), OT Mason Murphy, OG Caden Barnett, OG Jaren Kump, DE Jamree Kromah, DT James Lynch (V), DT Jayden Loving, LB Wayne Matthews III, LB Tony Fields II (V), CB Beanie Bishop Jr., CB Dontae Manning, S Skyler Thomas