3 Bears who earned a roster spot after Preseason Week 2

Week 2 of the preseason for the Chicago Bears was an opportunity for fans to see Caleb Williams under center in the Windy City for the first time. It's safe to say he didn't disappoint, with this play as a major reason why.

While Williams will almost always be the talk of the town, the Bears team as a whole had a dominant performance. Sure, many of the Bengals starters didn't play, but a 27-3 win is impressive no matter how you slice it.

The Bears improved to 3-0 this preseason, and their great play has earned some potentially unexpected players spots on Chicago's regular season Week 1 roster. These three in particular shined in Saturday's victory.

3) Daniel Hardy, DE

You'd be hard-pressed to find a more impactful defensive player on the Bears this preseason thus far than Daniel Hardy, who shined once again on Saturday.

Hardy was taken in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams but played just six games for them, all in 2022. Despite not appearing in a single NFL game last season, Hardy has looked like like he belongs and then some this preseason.

In Saturday's game, the 25-year-old racked up four tackles, two of which were for loss, and he was credited with a sack as well. This standout performance came just one week after a 2.5-sack performance in Buffalo.

Hardy probably was not a favorite entering camp to make Chicago's Week 1 roster but how exactly can they leave him off after how well he has played? Chances are, they won't.

2) Tyson Bagent, QB

The Bears are as set as any team under center with Caleb Williams, a player who might instantly be a Pro Bowler, as their starter, but Williams' backup has never been clear. The competition is really between Tyson Bagent, a 24-year-old who appeared in five games for Chicago last season, or Brett Rypien, a 28-year-old who has ten games of NFL experience (four starts) split between the Broncos and Rams.

At first, Rypien was the one who showed out, as he threw three touchdown passes in Chicago's first preseason game. These last two games though, has seen Bagent get more run and take advantage of it.

In Saturday's win, Bagent completed seven of his eight passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns. He has just five incompletions all preseason, which is pretty impressive even with somewhat limited playing time.

When it comes down to it, Bagent is younger, has more familiarity with the Bears, and has been better than Rypien in two of the three preseason games. Perhaps the Bears choose to carry three quarterbacks, but Bagent has shown enough to earn a spot. Bears fans hope to never see him in games that are remotely close, but he should be on the roster regardless.

1) Dante Pettis, WR

After years of the Bears having little to no skill position talent, they're as loaded as any team in that department now. The Bears have three dynamic receivers already set into stone with Keenan Allen, DJ Moore, and Rome Odunze locked in, but beyond that, it's more unclear.

Tyler Scott, Chicago's fourth-round pick from last year's draft is probably safe, but beyond that, the one or two other receivers should be those who earn it in the preseason. Dante Pettis certainly looked like he earned it on Saturday.

Pettis hasn't shown much in his six-year NFL career, and didn't appear in an NFL game in 2023, but he had three receptions for 53 yards and two touchdowns in their recent win. He hadn't done much in the other two games, but it's not as if other Bears receivers have done enough to steal the spotlight away from Pettis after his big game on Saturday.

How much Pettis plays in the regular season with so much talent in front of him remains to be seen, but when it comes to earning a roster spot, it's pretty clear that he doesn't have much else to prove. Guys like Velus Jones Jr., Collin Johnson, and DeAndre Carter have another week to prove themselves, but Pettis should be with this Bears team when they match up against the Titans in their regular season opener.