The Chicago Bears saw significant contributions from rookies on offense, defense and special teams during the 2022 season, whether it was from draft picks or undrafted free agents.
Following the departure of punter Pat O’Donnell in free agency, the Bears drafted Trenton Gill in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL draft. Gill made the transition from O’Donnell a seamless one, as Gill looked like a seasoned pro during his rookie year.
Let’s take a look back at Gill’s rookie season and see what we can expect for the future.
2022 stats
- 66 punts, 3,038 yards, 46.0 average, 20 inside 20-yard line, 1 blocked
2022 season review
Gill was drafted in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL draft to replace veteran Pat O’Donnell, who departed in free agency. Gill was one of the most underrated rookies for the Bears, where he had an impressive rookie season and made it a seamless transition from O’Donnell. Gill was good at pinning teams deep, where he had 20 punts downed inside the 20-yard line. Gill had just one punt blocked, which came against the Dolphins when Jaelan Phillips got past Khalil Herbert for the block. It was recovered by Andrew Van Ginkel, who returned it 25 yards for a touchdown. Outside of that blemish, Gill looked like a seasoned pro in just his first season in Chicago. Gill finished the season with a net punting average of 40.3 yards, the third best in franchise history.
Best Game: at Giants (Week 4)
Gill had a solid rookie year, but his best performance came against the Giants in Week 4. Against New York, Gill had five punts for 264 yards for an average of 52.8 yards per punt. He also downed three of those punts inside the 20-yard line. With Cairo Santos missing the game, Gill also stepped in for kickoffs.
2023 season outlook
Gill is coming off an impressive rookie season where he proved to be a field position weapon for Chicago. Gill returns as the team’s starting punter in 2023, where he’ll rejoin kicker Cairo Santos on the Bears’ special teams unit. If the Bears re-sign long snapper Patrick Scales, they’ll return their entire specialists group for the second straight year. Gill has been a consistent player with very few mistakes, which bodes well for Chicago’s special teams moving forward.
2022 rookie reviews
We’re unveiling our rookie season reviews over the next week. Here’s a look at the rundown from the 2022 rookie class:
| S Jaquan Brisker | OT Braxton Jones | LB Jack Sanborn |
| CB Kyler Gordon | WR Velus Jones Jr. | P Trenton Gill |
| DE Dominique Robinson (2/15) | RB Trestan Ebner (2/16) | S Elijah Hicks (2/17) |
