Tag: Stephen Denmark

Grading the 2019 Bears draft class after 3 years

Three years later, we’re evaluating the 2019 Bears draft class.

The 2022 NFL draft is quickly approaching for the Chicago Bears, where another group of playmakers will be selected with hopes of being productive contributors.

But as soon as the draft ends, the grades and analysis begins for the players who were just selected. It’s a tough exercise since no one has any idea how each player will perform at the next level, which is why it’s best to wait to assign final grades until three years later.

Being able to grade picks and players after three years in the league provides a much clearer picture on how each pick has or hasn’t panned out. And that brings us back to 2019 where former general manager Ryan Pace made five total selections in the draft that would hopefully help a Bears team coming off of a division title and heartbreaking playoff loss.

The Bears have yet to reach those heights, but what about the players themselves? Here are the grades for each player selected by the Bears in the 2019 NFL draft.

Browns add 2 to practice squad, protect 4 more for Week 10

CB Stephen Denmark and OC Javon Patterson both worked out for the Browns over the bye weekend

The Browns were busy on Tuesday making changes and designations to the team’s practice squad. Two new players were signed to the squad, and the Browns also revealed the four members of the 14-man squad who are protected for Week 10.

The new additions are CB Stephen Denmark and OL Javon Patterson. Both worked out for the team over the bye weekend and passed COVID-19 protocols to join the team. Denmark brings a size component to the secondary, while Patterson effectively replaces active-roster backup Evan Brown, who was waived by the Browns.

To create one of the needed spots on the practice squad, WR Ryan Switzer was placed on the injured/practice squad list. He no longer counts against the Browns total roster tally. The Browns also terminated the contract of DB Prince Smith.

In addition to the additions, the team protected four players:

  • QB Kyle Lauletta
  • DE Cameron Malveaux
  • PK Matt McCrane
  • OT Alex Taylor

 

 

Browns try out 2 OL and a CB during the bye week

CB Stephen Denmark fits the bill of athletic freakshow

The Browns held a tryout for three NFL free agents over the bye week. None of the players have been signed as of yet, though COVID-19 protocols effectively prevent instant signings.

The trio includes a player we here at Browns Wire liked in the 2019 pre-draft process. That would be Stephen Denmark, a cornerback from Valdosta State. The team worked out Denmark before that draft, in which he was selected in the seventh round by the Chicago Bears. He’s a physical traits wonder; at 6-foot-2 and 217 pounds, Denmark clocked a 4.4-second 40-yard dash at his pro day and posted a 43.5-inch vertical leap.

The other two who tried out are offensive linemen:

  • Cordel Iwuagwu OG TCU
  • Javon Patterson OC Mississippi

 

 

Bears 2020 training camp preview: Cornerbacks

Here is a breakdown of each cornerback as the Bears prepare for the start of training camp.

When the Chicago Bears cornerbacks take the field in just under a week, there will be some familiarity but also quite a bit of change. Pro Bowl cornerback Kyle Fuller returns as the team’s top option as he continues to establish himself as one of the best corners in the game, but he doesn’t know who his counterpart on the other side of the field will be.

Former starting cornerback Prince Amukamara was released in February and the Bears have brought in a bevy of players in free agency and the NFL Draft to compete for the starting position opposite of Fuller.

The position group will certainly be one to watch when camp officially begins. Here is a breakdown of each cornerback as the Bears get ready for the 2020 season.

Kyle Fuller

Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images

Kyle Fuller continues to rewrite his own history as the former 2014 first-round draft pick went from bust to beast. Fuller put together another fine season in 2019, intercepting three passes and posting a career high in tackles with 82. His production did slip from his outstanding 2018 season, but that was in part due to the Bears’ front seven not generating enough pass rush. Fuller is a player who plays off the ball, able to watch the quarterback and receiver to make last-minute plays on the ball.

Fuller is one of the longest-tenured Bears and will be expected to lead the position group on and off the field more than ever now that Amukamara, one of the team’s key leaders since 2017, has moved on. His first task? Mentoring the Bears hotshot second-round draft pick.

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5 Bears on the roster bubble heading into training camp

There are a handful of Bears that are looking to secure a spot on the 53-man roster that might find themselves on the outside looking in.

When the Chicago Bears kickoff training camp in less than two weeks, they’ll bring a roster of 90 players with them. By the end of camp and preseason, that roster will be trimmed to just 53 players and a group of practice squad players.

Whether that’s because of depth at the position or past performance.

Let’s take a look at five Bears players that are on the roster bubble heading into training camp.

WR Javon Wims

Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

The Bears have a ton of talent at receiver, but they’re not going to be able to keep everyone on the 53-man roster. With the speedy weapons Chicago has added in Ted Ginn Jr. and rookie Darnell Mooney, former seventh-round pick Javon Wims could find himself the odd man out with just six roster spots up for grabs.

Last season, Wims appeared in all 16 games, where he 18 receptions for 186 yards and his first career touchdown. While he showed promise last year, there’s essentially just six roster spots for receivers. Allen Robinson, Anthony Miller, Cordarrelle Patterson and Ted Ginn Jr. feels like virtual locks to make the roster, which leaves two roster spots for Wims, Riley Ridley and Darnell Mooney. Unfortunately, Wims could find himself on the outside looking in.

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Ranking each Bears draft class under Ryan Pace

When you put each of Bears GM Ryan Pace’s first five draft classes next to one another, how do they stack up?

We’re down to just hours before the 2020 NFL Draft officially begins in Las Vegas, NV virtually, giving teams yet another opportunity to improve their roster as the offseason marches on.

For Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace, this year’s draft will be his sixth and like most GMs, he’s found his share of diamonds in the rough while missing badly on top prospects.

But when you put each of his first five draft classes next to one another, how do they stack up? Below is a ranking of Pace’s worst to best draft classes between 2015 and 2019.

5) 2019 draft class

Daniel Bartel-USA TODAY Sports

Key hits – None

Key misses – None

It seems a little unfair to rank the Bears most-recent draft class in last place, considering the players have only had one season to develop. But the truth is, none of the Bears five picks have shown they are true hits yet. They also relinquished their first and second-round picks when they traded for All-Pro outside linebacker Khalil Mack prior to the 2018 season.

Their first selection didn’t come until pick No. 73, trading up in the third round for running back David Montgomery. The former Cyclone was decent and definitely showed flashes throughout the season, but he wasn’t consistent enough and only averaged 3.7 yards per carry. He wasn’t bad by any means, but he wasn’t a standout. Most notably, he was the only rookie to play a significant amount of snaps.

Their next pick, wide receiver Riley Ridley, didn’t play a single down until Week 13 and failed to make an impact. Cornerback Duke Shelley, the Bears’ sixth-round pick, spent a large portion of the season inactive, and their pair of seventh-rounders in running back Kerrith Whyte Jr. and cornerback Stephen Denmark were released and spent the year on the practice squad, respectively.

It was a rough year for this rookie class, but the bright side for this group is Montgomery, Ridley, and Shelley will have more opportunities to prove themselves and take the next step in their careers in Year 2.

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NFL.com gives Bears 2019 rookie draft class a C+ grade

It was an overall disappointment for the Bears’ rookie class during one of the more disappointing seasons in recent history for Chicago.

It was an overall disappointment for the Bears’ rookie class during one of the more disappointing seasons in recent history for Chicago.

With no first or second round draft picks, the Bears had just five selections. They traded up 13 spots to take running back David Montgomery, who had 889 rushing yards and six touchdowns in his rookie season. But Chicago’s other four picks didn’t has big an impact.

NFL.com ranked the Bears’ rookie draft class third in the NFC North with a grade of a C+, which trailed the Packers (B+) and Vikings (B-).

Beyond the well-documented quarterback issue (SEE: next paragraph), the biggest culprit behind Chicago’s unexpectedly blah season was the offensive line. Bears GM Ryan Pace openly acknowledged the unit’s shortcomings in his end-of-season press conference: “We struggled in that area this year — that’s real.” And therein lies the problem in evaluating the rookie campaign of Montgomery, whose yards-per-carry mark (3.7) left a lot to be desired. But honestly, Chicago’s O-line hung Montgomery out to dry pretty routinely — and obviously, opposing defenses weren’t too worried about getting burned by the Mitchell Trubisky-led passing game on a snap-by-snap basis. Montgomery did his best to overcome these adverse circumstances, breaking the eighth-most tackles in the NFL (47) — which is how he finished second among all rookies in both rushing yards (889) and rushing touchdowns (6).

Montgomery was the only draft selection that made an impact for Chicago in 2019, which made the Bears’ draft class unimpressive considering just one of their five selections saw the field for a significant amount of time.

Besides Montgomery’s production, the Bears didn’t get much of anything out of the rookie class. This isn’t all that surprising, considering Chicago made just five selections last April, with Montgomery being the only player taken before Day 3 of the draft. Coming out of Georgia, Ridley was advertised as a polished route runner — like his brother, Calvin — but he couldn’t even crack the game day roster until Week 13. Adding insult to ineffectiveness: The very next two wideouts selected after Ridley — Hunter Renfrow and Darius Slayton — provided significant Year 1 contributions.

Receiver Riley Ridley and cornerback Duke Shelley saw little playing time. Then there was seventh-round picks running back Kerrith Whyte and cornerback Stephen Denmark that didn’t make any impact on the active roster. Denmark spent the season on the practice squad while Whyte was dealt the the Steelers.

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Bears’ 2019 rookie class ranked 8th in NFL

It was hard to expect much from the Bears’ 2019 rookie class considering that they had 5 selections. But where did they rank in the NFL?

It was hard to expect much from the Bears’ 2019 rookie draft class considering that they had just five draft selections, including no picks before Round 3 and three selections in Round 6 and 7.

The Bears’ rookie class was less than impactful. David Montgomery was the only rookie that saw substantial playing time in 2019, as he took over as the team’s starting running back.

Surprisingly, ESPN and Pro Football Focus ranked the Bears’ rookie class the eighth best in 2019.

The Bears have a strange class. They had only five picks, none before Round 3, with three of those five selections coming after Round 6. As a result, their expected return was low. Running back David Montgomery was really the only Bears’ rookie to play significant snaps, and he managed to provide enough return from his third-round selection to land them at No. 8.

While Montgomery showed flashes of potential in Matt Nagy’s limited rushing offense, you could argue that it wasn’t enough to garner the Bears’ underperforming rookie class in the top-10. Montgomery had 889 rushing yards and six touchdowns as a rookie.

Highly-touted fourth-round receiver Riley Ridley was shelved for most of the season, and it took injuries to the Bears receiving corp. for Ridley to get some playing time in the final three games. He finished his rookie season with six receptions for 69 yards.

Sixth-round cornerback Duke Shelley was confined to special teams in his rookie season. While seventh-round running back Kerrith Whyte Jr. was signed off the Bears practice squad by the Steelers, where he had 24 carries for 122 yards in six games. Then there’s seventh-round cornerback Stephen Denmark, who spent his rookie season on the Bears’ practice squad.

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Roster Moves: Bears sign 9 players to reserve/future contracts

The Bears inked nine players that finished the season on their practice squad to reserve/future contracts on Monday.

The Chicago Bears signed nine players that finished the season on their practice squad to reserve/future contracts on Monday.

The group of players consisted of receivers Reggie Davis, Thomas Ives and Alex Wesley; tight end Dax Raymond; offensive linemen Dino Boyd and Sam Mustipher; linebacker James Vaughters; and defensive backs Xavier Crawford and Stephen Denmark.

Denmark was a seventh-round draft selection from 2019, but he didn’t appear in any regular-season games for the Bears. The lone Bear from the list to appear in a regular-season game was Vaughters, who filled in for the Bears that struggled with injuries to their linebacking corp. He registered three tackles in three games against the Eagles, Lions and Rams.

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Bears rookie draft class has played fewest snaps in the NFL

Despite receiving high praise coming out of the 2019 NFL Draft, the Bears’ 2019 draft class has been nowhere to be seen.

It’s been nearly seven months since the 2019 NFL Draft concluded in Nashville, and 254 players saw their NFL dreams come true. Five of those eventually becoming Chicago Bears.

Running back David Montgomery, wide receiver Riley Ridley, cornerback Duke Shelley, running back Kerrith Whyte Jr. and cornerback Stephen Denmark rounded out the 2019 Bears rookie class, a group that received high marks following the draft.

But despite the high praise, you may have noticed that outside of Montgomery, the Bears rookie class has been nowhere to be seen. It’s not your eyes playing tricks on you, it’s reality.

After calculating each team’s snap counts via Pro Football Reference through Week 10 of the NFL season, the Bears rookie draft class has played a total of just 366 snaps, the fewest in the NFL. For context, NFL rookie draft classes have averaged 1,441 snaps. The New York Giants, led by quarterback Daniel Jones, have the most snaps at 3,226.

Out of the Bears’ 366 snaps, Montgomery, their top draft pick selected in the third round, accounts for 329 and Shelley, their sixth-round pick, has played the remaining 37 plays. Ridley, Whyte Jr., and Denmark have yet to see the field.

Without a first or second round pick due to trades involving outside linebacker Khalil Mack and wide receiver Anthony Miller, respectively, the Bears relied on their mid-round picks to find talent.

General manager Ryan Pace has had success in rounds 3-7 throughout his tenure, finding gems such as safety Adrian Amos, linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski, safety Eddie Jackson, running back Tarik Cohen, and defensive tackle Bilal Nichols, who contributed immediately in the regular season and/or developed into solid players in the NFL.

But after a slew of success in those rounds, the Bears appear to have stalled this season, only utilizing one rookie regularly in games. While they did tie with the New Orleans Saints for the fewest amount of picks in the draft, the Saints’ rookie class has played 1,095 snaps so far in 2019, ranked 23rd in the league.

With such few picks, the need to hit on draft picks is more crucial than ever. Montgomery has shown flashes of his hard-nosed running that made him a popular back while at Iowa State.

Ridley was touted as a precise route-running receiver who would translate well to the next level, and Shelley was a ball hawk at Kansas State before injuring his ankle, hurting his draft stock. Both players are on the active roster, but have been healthy scratches for most, if not all the games. Ridley has not been active for any game this year and Shelley last played in Week 4 against Minnesota on special teams. Whyte Jr. and Denmark have spent the season on the practice squad.

With six games remaining and a spot in the playoffs still achievable, it’s unlikely fans will see the other members of the rookie draft class barring injury. But at some point, Matt Nagy and the rest of the coaching staff need to know what they have in their rookies and how they can contribute in 2020 and beyond.

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