Chicago Bears: ESPN has a surprising good ranking for team in 2024

ESPN recently published its rankings of all 32 NFL rosters for 2024. It included a surprisingly good ranking for the Chicago Bears, evoking hope for many fans.

The Chicago Bears are inching closer to the start of training camp. In less than two weeks, the hard work for a successful 2024 season begins. Positions battles begin and all the new players start to learn each other’s likings. Additionally, the coaches start to put their systems in order and learn which players fit into them the best.

Chicago Bears General Manager Ryan Poles did an incredible job of overhauling the offense. That came after he did a good job of fixing the defense in the 2023 offseason. He turned an old team with bloated contracts and many holes into one with young, athletic players on team-friendly contracts. There is much more talent and depth throughout the roster.

Now that the signing frenzy is over (except for some additional moves before the start of the season) ESPN analyzed the rosters of each team. Analysts Mike Clay, Aaron Schatz, and Seth Walder made their rankings and combined them to get the final product. They took players’ age and production into consideration.

Additionally, they projected the starters, looked at X-factor players, and non-starters who could make big contributions.

Roster Rankings

First, let’s go over some of the highlights. At the top of the food chain are last year’s Super Bowl teams. The San Francisco 49ers are at the top. They return basically the same team so many feel they can win the NFC once again.

At number two are the defending champions, the Kansas City Chiefs. Their roster has some problems. However, as we saw last season, no matter what is going wrong with the roster, when you have Patrick Mahomes those problems can go away. Without a strong wide receivers corps last season, Mahomes still found a way to come out on top.

While both teams are very strong, there are questions. San Francisco has a problem brewing with Brandon Aiyuk. He is in a contract dispute with the team. While both sides say they want to keep the status quo and come up with an extension, how long that remains is in question. The longer the stalemate continues the more problems could arise.

There is also the Super Bowl hangover. How will the Niners play after their loss in the big game? The loser of the Super Bowl usually has trouble the following season. Just look at the Philadelphia Eagles. They struggled down the stretch of the season and made an early playoff exit.

San Francisco will try to keep that from happening, but it is difficult to get back.

Here are the rest of the rankings: the Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, and Detroit Lions round out the top five. Then it is the Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans, Buffalo Bills, and the Philadelphia Eagles round out the top ten. After that, it is the Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Seattle Seahawks are 11-16.

Chicago Bears are in the middle of the pack

Then comes the Chicago Bears at 17. That is pretty good coming from a team that was 3-14 just two seasons ago. They won seven games last season and are poised to be even better in 2024. Being in the middle of the pack is pretty good considering where they came from.

The writers lauded the Bears for their wide receivers group, which was listed as their strength. D.J. Moore had a career year last season. This offseason, Poles added six-time Pro Bowl receiver Keenan Allen and drafted elite wide receiver Rome Odunze. The offense has perhaps the best trio of wide receivers in the league.

The Bears’ weak point is the defensive line. Chicago feels comfortable with Gervon Dexter, Andrew Billings, and Montez Sweat, but that other defensive end spot is a problem. As of now, DeMarcus Walker is slated to be the other defensive end. He struggled last season, however.

Montez Sweat was great when he came over in a midseason trade. With him, the Chicago Bears had an improved pass rush. However, he had 12.5 sacks for the season. Every other lineman on the roster combined for 9. They need someone else on the opposite of Sweat to pressure the quarterback. If not, teams will just send waves of players at Sweat to slow his path to the quarterback.

The X-factor is quarterback Caleb Williams. The season hangs on what he does. The offensive overhaul was for his benefit. Some view him as a generational talent. Well, he has to show at least some of those skills people are so enamored with. If he doesn’t, it could be a long season for the Chicago Bears. Here is what they said about Williams.

Forgive the obvious selection but the Bears have a wide range of outcomes, and it all hinges on Williams. If he can hit the ground running in the NFL then the upside for this team is high because of all the parts around him on offense. But the team won’t run without him, and so that roster will be for naught if he comes along slowly.

The nonstarter to look for was Jack Sanborn. Sanborn was instrumental in the rise of the Chicago Bears’ run defense. The defense soared from 31st in 2022 to number one in 2023. Furthermore, Sanborn held his own and had good metrics when he had to play in coverage.

Separating the rosters between AFC and NFC, the Chicago Bears would just miss out on the playoffs with their rankings. They would be the seventh seed in the NFC, behind the Seahawks. If it works out that way it would be an exciting season for Chicago Bears Nation. With the new-look offense, fighting for a playoff spot throughout the season is good.

Who knows, a favorable bounce here or there or a good acquisition and the Bears could find themselves back in the playoffs. That would be even more exciting for fans. We could be seeing the start of a new era of winning Chicago Bears football.

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