Sutton and Ego Competing For One Roster Spot...........

[Deleted]

Will Sutton and Ego Ferguson competing head-to-head for roster spot


By: Lorin Cox | 4 hours ago

Once Ryan Pace, John Fox and Vic Fangio took charge of the Chicago Bears, they switched the defense into a base 3-4 causing everyone to wonder where two of former general manager Phil Emery’s day-two draft picks would fit in the mix.

Both Ego Ferguson and Will Sutton were drafted to fit former defensive coordinator Mel Tucker’s 4-3, and to the surprise of many, the two seemingly out-of-place defensive linemen stuck on the Bears’ 53-man roster last season. Then injuries hit them both, with Ferguson missing the majority of the year.

With the addition of Akiem Hicks and rookie Jonathan Bullard this offseason, both 2014 draft picks find themselves once again fighting for a spot on the roster.

The emergence of Cornelius Washington and Mitch Unrein at the defensive end spots make it all the more difficult for Sutton and Ferguson as they find themselves on the outside looking in. It appears there are about five defensive linemen ahead of them on the depth chart.

Ferguson, the former 51st overall pick, has really struggled in the Bears’ two preseason games thus far, failing to take advantage of his impressive physical traits that earned him such a high draft selection.

Sutton hasn’t been all that much better, missing a pair of tackles last week against the New England Patriots. He has the advantage of versatility, operating as the primary backup nose tackle in addition to his time at defensive end, and his special teams role is much more significant than Ferguson’s.

Both of these players will need to put together their best performances against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday if they want to make the final roster. The Bears’ coaching staff will be watching them closely as they try to decide how many defensive linemen they want to keep.

Another factor in all of this could be potential trade value. Rumors swirled last offseason about Sutton being on the block, and both players could interest teams with 4-3 defenses.

Both Sutton and Ferguson are Top-100 draft picks that are less than 26-years-old, and some teams may feel like they can tap into the potential that the Bears have not been able to get out of them in Fangio’s defense. Other general managers could see either of these players as a steal in a trade for a late-round future draft pick.

A big performance by either Sutton or Ferguson against the Chiefs could be enough to save their roster spot, or it could be enough to convince another team to trade for them. One way or another, their future could become more clear after Saturday.

[dachuckster]

Aug 26, 2016 16:20:04 GMT -6 @soulman said:

Will Sutton and Ego Ferguson competing head-to-head for roster spot


By: Lorin Cox | 4 hours ago

Once Ryan Pace, John Fox and Vic Fangio took charge of the Chicago Bears, they switched the defense into a base 3-4 causing everyone to wonder where two of former general manager Phil Emery’s day-two draft picks would fit in the mix.

Both Ego Ferguson and Will Sutton were drafted to fit former defensive coordinator Mel Tucker’s 4-3, and to the surprise of many, the two seemingly out-of-place defensive linemen stuck on the Bears’ 53-man roster last season. Then injuries hit them both, with Ferguson missing the majority of the year.

With the addition of Akiem Hicks and rookie Jonathan Bullard this offseason, both 2014 draft picks find themselves once again fighting for a spot on the roster.

The emergence of Cornelius Washington and Mitch Unrein at the defensive end spots make it all the more difficult for Sutton and Ferguson as they find themselves on the outside looking in. It appears there are about five defensive linemen ahead of them on the depth chart.

Ferguson, the former 51st overall pick, has really struggled in the Bears’ two preseason games thus far, failing to take advantage of his impressive physical traits that earned him such a high draft selection.

Sutton hasn’t been all that much better, missing a pair of tackles last week against the New England Patriots. He has the advantage of versatility, operating as the primary backup nose tackle in addition to his time at defensive end, and his special teams role is much more significant than Ferguson’s.

Both of these players will need to put together their best performances against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday if they want to make the final roster. The Bears’ coaching staff will be watching them closely as they try to decide how many defensive linemen they want to keep.

Another factor in all of this could be potential trade value. Rumors swirled last offseason about Sutton being on the block, and both players could interest teams with 4-3 defenses.

Both Sutton and Ferguson are Top-100 draft picks that are less than 26-years-old, and some teams may feel like they can tap into the potential that the Bears have not been able to get out of them in Fangio’s defense. Other general managers could see either of these players as a steal in a trade for a late-round future draft pick.

A big performance by either Sutton or Ferguson against the Chiefs could be enough to save their roster spot, or it could be enough to convince another team to trade for them. One way or another, their future could become more clear after Saturday.

If we could get a couple of day 3 picks for them, it would be very cool.  I know it will be 6th or 7th round picks but Pace seems to do OK with that.

The only other option would be cutting them and then we'd get nothing.

[riczaj01]

Should be interesting to see if they could trade them.

[Deleted]

I agree with both of you but you know how this stuff goes at this time of the year. These guys are vets so I don't think they're subject to waiver claims. If they're released they become FAs and anyone can sign them. So it's the old story of why pay for what you might get for free.

If either of the two has some trade value I would think it would be Sutton. He's really not a bad fit as a 3 tech DT in someones 4-3. Maybe Chico Rivera and the Panthers would be interested in him. He's kind of poor man's Aaron Donald and in the right system he may do far better than he can here where he's always playing somewhat out of position.

[Deleted]

Stuff surprises me all the time, but I would be surprised if we decided we had to part with one of them and that we could not get SOMETHING for either one. They are good enough IMO to merit some kind of trade value.

[bears40]

We need a center and some help in the defensive backfield. Not sure if any sort of trade is workable in this regards during preseason, but we need to get something out of them.

[Deleted]

Aug 26, 2016 19:14:19 GMT -6 bears40 said:

We need a center and some help in the defensive backfield. Not sure if any sort of trade is workable in this regards during preseason, but we need to get something out of them.

My first thought was "well, what the hell are we going to get at this stage in the game", but here we are discussing having to possibly cut one of two players are are both worth keeping, so possibly we could see the flip side of that reality on another team rich in the secondary or the offensive line. Stranger things have happened. Did I ever tell you the story of a message board that over the years cultivated its membership and prided itself in making sure that the conversations were all positive and had a great environment, but then ownership willingly took in members that been instrumental in screwing up a different board and allowed them to take over this board with their own blessing causing all of the hard earned equity and reputation to go out the door and allowing themselves to start on the first step to the same extinction that said new members caused before?
No, really.... its true. Anything can happen

[bears40]

Aug 26, 2016 19:20:11 GMT -6 @bearsinhouston said:

Aug 26, 2016 19:14:19 GMT -6 bears40 said:

We need a center and some help in the defensive backfield. Not sure if any sort of trade is workable in this regards during preseason, but we need to get something out of them.

My first thought was "well, what the hell are we going to get at this stage in the game", but here we are discussing having to possibly cut one of two players are are both worth keeping, so possibly we could see the flip side of that reality on another team rich in the secondary or the offensive line. Stranger things have happened. Did I ever tell you the story of a message board that over the years cultivated its membership and prided itself in making sure that the conversations were all positive and had a great environment, but then ownership willingly took in members that been instrumental in screwing up a different board and allowed them to take over this board with their own blessing causing all of the hard earned equity and reputation to go out the door and allowing themselves to start on the first step to the same extinction that
said new members caused before?
No, really.... its true. Anything can happen

Truth. Anything is possible if one tries. This is going to be a good place.

[blueshoes]

Neither are 'great' , but of the 2 , Sutton has had the better career and he plays with more quickness , hustle and genuine emotion so I'd rather see him stay out of the 2 .

[Deleted]

Aug 26, 2016 19:20:11 GMT -6 @bearsinhouston said:

Aug 26, 2016 19:14:19 GMT -6 bears40 said:

We need a center and some help in the defensive backfield. Not sure if any sort of trade is workable in this regards during preseason, but we need to get something out of them.

My first thought was "well, what the hell are we going to get at this stage in the game", but here we are discussing having to possibly cut one of two players are are both worth keeping, so possibly we could see the flip side of that reality on another team rich in the secondary or the offensive line. Stranger things have happened. Did I ever tell you the story of a message board that over the years cultivated its membership and prided itself in making sure that the conversations were all positive and had a great environment, but then ownership willingly took in members that been instrumental in screwing up a different board and allowed them to take over this board with their own blessing causing all of the hard earned equity and reputation to go out the door and allowing themselves to start on the first step to the same extinction that said new members caused before?
No, really.... its true. Anything can happen

Please stop it.  I can't take it anymore. Next you'll be saying they're killing little baby seals over there.