NFL power rankings: Training camp edition
By Brad Weiss
Chicago Bears
, NFC North
In their first big splash of the 2017 offseason, the Chicago Bears brought in Mike Glennon to be their starting quarterback. Chicago gave him a pretty lucrative deal, although most of the money is only guaranteed for the first year, and it looked like he would be the one to bring stability to the position for the next few years. That all changed on draft night, when the team traded up one spot to draft North Carolina signal-caller Mitchell Trubisky at No. 2 overall.
While Trubisky is certainly the future at the position, it will be Glennon that should get all the reps in 2017, assuming he can stay healthy. The good news for Glennon is that the Bears have one of the better young running backs in the NFC, who would have led the league in rushing had it not been for Ezekiel Elliott last season. Jordan Howard rushed for over 1,300 yards during his rookie season, and will once again team with Jeremy Langford in the Bears backfield in 2017.
At wide receiver, the Bears have a talented group, including Cameron Meredith, who had nearly 900 receiving yards last season. The Bears also have a healthy Kevin White returning, who has incredible play-making abilities. Markus Wheaton, Victor Cruz, and Kendall Wright round out the unit, which will give Glennon plenty of options to work with in the passing game.
The defense is going to struggle, though they did bring in players like Prince Amukamarra, Quintin Demps, and Lamarr Houston to give them more of a veteran presence. Head coach John Fox will have to hope the team struck lightning with Glennon, but with out-of-division games against the NFC South and AFC North, the Bears could be in for a long year. The pieces are starting to be put into place to give Trubisky ever opportunity to win in 2018, but that is a full year away at this point.