Game overview:
Battle of the backups here and both backup groups were kinda evenly matched with a slight tilt I’d give to the Bears depth and especially the energy in which the Bears played overall.
Obviously, the Jonathan Taylor news is swirling around the Colts…so, a guy who wasn’t with the team was all the talk from this game…which kinda hid this game (plus the fact that all the backups were going, and Richardson held out) -- but there were two players/situations from this game that stood out to me…in an otherwise ‘low notes’ game tape study session.
Scouting Notes from the game:
-- The biggest player ‘thing’ happening from this game is -- the continued, rapid rise of Roschon Johnson (7-32-0, 1-11-0/1).
This is a crowded backfield of names. Roschon has looked good and gotten good press all summer. Recently, Roschon has been starting to work with the 1st-team. Momentum, among this RB trio/quad (if you include Homer), is all with Roschon.
All that is great, but then I watch Roschon play this preseason -- and he’s clearly better/has more juice than the others. There’s a reason why he’s gaining momentum…because he’s better. He’s bulked up but kept his speed. He’s not playing like a tentative rookie. He can run the ball…he can catch…he can block…he’s gonna be the lead of this group eventually.
I could see the Bears keeping all their four RBs, and not starting Roschon right away but gradually letting him get his feet wet but will play a good amount of snaps in the rotation for a few weeks…and then at some point midseason range, Roschon is suddenly the lead.
BUT…it’s not out of the question that Roschon is just the guy right away because the Bears don’t wanna mess around.
The Bears RB overview for FF, right now…
Roschon is the one to own.
D’Onta Foreman (3-12-0, 1-6-0/1) did nothing wrong, but he always gets beat in the musical chairs at RB wherever he goes. He’ll be in the rotation but he’ll be #2/3 in touches behind Roschon. It’s not crazy to see D’Onta lead the Bears backfield in rushing Week 1 in a split role RBBC…the veteran hand, the power runner that he is with this group -- but then that be an opportunity to trade out for FF purposes.
My early year prediction of D’Onta winning this job and early leading (in an RBBC) this backfield is a poker hand I’m folding. He’s not dead -- but being a 10+ touch a game guy is not looking good. I don’t need a guy getting 7 carries and 0-1 targets per game in a committee where the best running back is the quarterback.
Khalil Herbert (DNP) is still getting the lead RB treatment, but I think that is sitting on quicksand…he’ll just be part of the rotation. He could be the Week 1 starter but touch the ball 3rd-most of the group and then the value falls away the next week.
If I had Herbert, as I’ve said all 2023, I’m trying to trade his #1 on the depth chart status for what I can -- not revealing my panic sell but trying to prop him up like he’s an RB2/3 lead back for the Bears/#1 on the depth chart.
If the Bears name Roschon the starter this week or next, which I don’t think will happen (why reveal their cards?) but could…then Herbert’s value is sunk for good. Herbert will not be able to shake Roschon-D’Onta-Homer and be much of anything for FF consistently. He’s on very borrowed time.
Travis Homer (5-13-01-4-0/1) is gonna be in that mix in hurry up pass game spots.
I don’t FF-love anyone from this backfield, per se…but if I had to possess one from the jump -- it’s now Roschon, not D’Onta.
-- A more mild revelation from watching this game was…the leap from the Senior Bowl week to preseason Week 1 to preseason Week 2 for Bears UDFA rookie QB Tyson Bagent (9-10 for 76 yards, 0 TD/0 INT).
Bagent was very poised and played under control here but took some shots when they were there. A really quality showing of growth here for Bagent. Such growth…these rookie QBs out of college that have moxie, played a lot/threw a lot in college -- they are just stunning to me how fast they get acclimated to the NFL.
Imagine if my early stages theory about ‘pampered QBs’ (p_QBs) is correct…and that the NFL suddenly realizes the day three NFL Draft QBs are actually as good as the big media pushed/high pick ones…and maybe better because the ‘lower class’ QB prospects went to smaller schools (some tiny schools, like D2 Shepherd for Bagent) and got way less NIL money in college but have more grit and work ethic and determination because of it, when they go pro. Could the era of the QB making 9 billion dollars a year if they’re halfway decent be going away -- is the QB position the next to be devalued by an inflation of talent/supply?
The NFL needs to expand ASAP.
Bagent is not a future star, in my book…but we’ll see how he develops in the next week/year. These guys are so good/ready these days…the landscape of QB scouting is changing rapidly.
-- The Colts backfield report…
Deon Jackson (3-8-0, 2-15-0/2) started this game and looked OK, but he and rookie Evan Hull (4-13-0) are very uninspiring so far in this preseason. Kenyan Drake (3-5-0, 1-7-0/1) looks the best of the non-JT’s, but he is getting treated as the lowest of the group.
Indy has to…they will…bring back Taylor.
I think Taylor will return, and the Colts will try to bring Kareem Hunt to go with him…but Hunt will decline because he can just wait for the first RB ACL to blow by Week 2-3 and be in-demand. So, the true handcuff for Taylor is…I don’t know. It feels like Hull…but it’s not exciting. If JT did go down, THEN Hunt could come to the rescue.
-- Some more playing time for Josh Downs (2-20-0/3) here. He looked ready to go. Doesn’t seem tentative like (a similar WR he’s connected to) Marvin Mims does (and it’s early, they’re rookies). Likely, Isaiah McKenzie will start in the slot Week 1 as Downs sprinkles in and then by like Weeks 3-4-5 Downs is starting to take over the slot.
-- Indy IDP notes…
Rookie CB Julius Brents (2 tackles) was expected to be a starting corner for Indy right after the draft, but things have been quite quiet on the Brents front this summer…and the Colts ran their starting CB duo out in this game…AND Brents was not one of them. Didn’t get enough of a feel here to weigh in on what’s wrong (or not).
2nd-year UDFA CB that I love Dallis Flowers (no stats) did start and he looked good. He has been the starter all training camp and he’s going to hold it to Week 1 and beyond. He’s a definite IDP sleeper.
-- One last note…
Another week/game, another ‘good energy’ game by the Bears…especially on defense. This Bears defense has added talent through the draft the past two years and through free agency this year. If the Bears become a top run game offense…with this emerging, well coached defense…in that weak division… we might really have a strong contender for the division here.
