Chicago Bears training camp is well underway and fans are getting a close look at the team as they prepare for the upcoming 2023 season. Star players like Justin Fields, D.J. Moore, Tremaine Edmunds, and Jaylon Johnson are of course the focus as the team looks to improve upon its dismal 3-14 record from a year ago, but camp is also about finding those undrafted players near the bottom of the roster that can turn heads.
Guys like Terrell Lewis, Aron Cruickshank, and Buddy Johnson have stood out at different times already. Camp is a prime opportunity for players to make a name for themselves, which in turn gets fans excited about what they’re seeing on the field. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and remember some former Bears training camp and preseason standouts who may not have been household names.
WR Rodney Adams
Just two years ago, wide receiver Rodney Adams was the talk of Bears training camp and preseason. He had bounced around the league and came on strong for the Bears, most notably in their second preseason game against the Buffalo Bills. Adams had three catches for 89 yards and a touchdown in that game, just hours after his wife delivered a baby. Adams was a feel-good story in the summer of 2021.
RB Jordan Lynch
The Bears took a chance on quarterback-turned-running back Jordan Lynch in 2014. The former Heisman finalist from Northern Illinois was a dynamic player in college and tried to make the jump to the pros as an undrafted free agent. Lynch had limited opportunities, but was a fan favorite whenever he touched the ball. He even had sports radio callers making pleas for him to be the starting running back or even quarterback He was ultimately cut and never played a down in the NFL.
WR Tanner Gentry
Ask 10 Bears fans to name their favorite training camp player and a handful will likely say wide receiver Tanner Gentry. The former Wyoming star joined the Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2017 but made a name for himself early on. Gentry was making highlight plays in camp and carried that over into preseason games. His 45-yard touchdown reception from Mitchell Trubisky was arguably the play of the preseason that year for the Bears.
Mitchell Trubisky 45 yard TD to Tanner Gentry pic.twitter.com/8xovpcXhGx
— ✶ Ⓜ️𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕦𝕤 ▶️ ✶ (@_MarcusD2_) August 27, 2017
He hung around the team for a couple seasons but never saw extended playing time.
QB Connor Shaw
Quarterback Connor Shaw captured the hearts of Bears fans for a couple reasons in the mid-2010s. Back in 2016, Shaw was auditioning to be the team’s third-string quarterback and performed well in his limited opportunities. He had just one start in his career prior to joining the Bears so he was still relatively unknown. Unfortunately, Shaw suffered a broken leg in a preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs and missed the season. His timing could not have been worse seeing as the Bears played musical chairs at the QB position that year. Shaw might have seen regular season action. But he wound up making a comeback and returned in 2017, earning preseason reps that had fans happy to see him under center once again.
WR Brandon Rideau
You have to go back 15 years to remember wide receiver Brandon Rideau. He always seemed to hang around the Bears roster during the offseason but rarely was called up to the active roster. He was exciting to watch in the preseason though, especially in 2008. Rideau had five catches for 127 yards and three touchdowns. He also made plays during camp and seemed like an obvious choice to get touches during the regular season, especially considering the team’s ineffective wide receiver corps at the time. Rideau only saw action in two games and didn’t record a stat.
TE Jesper Horsted
When the Bears had questions at tight end coming into training camp in 2019, Jesper Horsted made sure to answer all of them. The former Princeton product burst onto the scene during the preseason that year, catching eight passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. He followed that up in 2021 with six catches for 113 yards and three touchdowns. The scores all came in one game too. Horsted did this while making defenders look silly in camp with ridiculous highlights.
JESPER HORSTED.
His third TD catch of the game!
📺: #CHIvsTEN on @NFLNetwork (or check local listings)
📱: https://t.co/fuBaH7nb4O pic.twitter.com/f9PDBvwF03— NFL (@NFL) August 29, 2021
Horsted was rewarded with some regular season work after those preseason runs. He caught three touchdowns in his career for the Bears but was released last offseason.
LB Brian Iwhu
Another player who carved out a role in the regular season, linebacker Brian Iwuh had the tall task of standing out on a team with players like Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs ahead of him on the depth chart. He did just that though in 2010. With Briggs out due to injury, Iwuh put together a string of practices with key tackles and turnovers that earned him a spot on the active roster. Iwuh even became a special teams contributor in every regular season game, forcing two fumbles.
CB Clifton Duck
Cornerback Clifton Duck quickly became a notable player in 2019 for both his name and his contributions. Duck signed with the Bears as an undrafted free agent and quickly began making noise in camp. He nabbed two interceptions in practice in consecutive days on the field in early August, while he met actual ducks off the field.
Chicago News Bears DB Clifton Duck Meets Actual Ducks https://t.co/LLOLcVjA4s pic.twitter.com/V3Mc1WYNR5
— Chicago NewsChannel (@Chicago_NC) August 3, 2019
But it was his preseason that put him on the map. Duck totaled six tackles in his first game and made a diving interception in his second against the New York Giants. Duck picked the ball off at the goal line and took it 62 yards the other way before being chased down. With all of the duck puns and highlights he made, he was a fun watch that summer.
WR Dane Sanzenbacher
Bears fans love to see wide receivers come out of nowhere to make an impact in camp and that’s exactly what happened with Dane Sanzenbacher in the early 2010s. Sanzenbacher had a nice career at Ohio State but went undrafted in 2011 and signed with the Bears. Sanzenbacher took advantage of a weak wide receiver room and became the talk of Bourbonnais, shining in team drills and standing out from the rest of the pack. Fans fell in love with Sanzenbacher and his performance was rewarded with a spot on the active roster. He caught three touchdowns his rookie season.
QB Jordan Palmer
Quarterback Jordan Palmer’s Bears story is an interesting one. He arrived in 2013 as an emergency replacement for Matt Blanchard, who broke his hand in the team’s second preseason game. Palmer quickly got up to speed though and put on a show in the team’s final preseason game to stick around on the roster, going 11-of-17 for 111 yards and a touchdown. He also rallied the team the next year, leading them to a comeback victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Palmer not only flashed in the preseason, but he was extremely complimentary about the organization on his way out. Of course, that was the Marc Trestman era and we all know how that turned out, but the sentiment was there.
