Chicago Bears Rookie Is By Far The Biggest Shock Of Early Practices

When talking about rookies that are already standing out for the Chicago Bears, it's names you expect, like 2nd round picks Gervon Dexter and Tyrique Stevenson. Nobody thought much of Noah Sewell when the Bears quietly plucked him in the 5th round out of Oregon. They were led to believe he's a two-down linebacker with nice hitting power that doesn't offer much on 3rd down. This came despite compelling evidence he'd been handcuffed by an ill-timed coaching change during his last season with the Ducks. It masked how capable he actually is.

A few weeks into early practices and the evidence is growing that the Bears may have something in Sewell. It isn't just the fact that he is making plays almost every day. It is that he's doing it in the way evaluators said he couldn't: in coverage. Josh Schrock of NBC Sports Chicago provided another example on Tuesday.

"Fields also had some not-so-good moments. The third-year quarterback threw a quick out that linebacker Noah Sewell should have intercepted. The ball hit Sewell in the hands, but the rookie dropped the takeaway."

This isn't an isolated incident. He's been doing it for weeks. Suddenly that outside linebacker spot everybody presumed would go to Jack Sanborn isn't entirely settled yet.

Sewell already has an advantage ahead of Chicago Bears training camp.

He has weeks of a head start learning the strong-side linebacker spot in this defense. Sanborn has continued rehabbing from the injury that ended his 2022 season. He played very well when he was on the field, but that was at middle linebacker. Tremaine Edmunds is now starting in that spot. It meant the former undrafted free agent would shift outside. There was nobody on the roster to challenge him through March and most of April. That changed when the Bears got Sewell.

The rookie isn't letting his opportunity slip away. He enters every practice trying to make a statement. Forget the draft status. He can start in the NFL. It wasn't too long ago many projected him as a future 1st round pick. That wasn't a fluke. Sewell wasn't playing that well. Now he's in a defense that compliments off-the-ball linebackers better than most. The Chicago Bears head coach is a former linebacker himself. If the rookie can't find success here, he isn't likely to find it anywhere.