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Shaw Local is counting down the top 25 most important Bears for the 2023 season.
What makes one player more important than another? That’s subjective, of course. But for our purposes it comes down to this: Are the Bears worse off if this player can’t play? Does this player have untapped potential or past greatness to live up to? Is his story going to be one fans follow closely this season?
The best player on the team isn’t always the most important, but he certainly can be. We will release one player every day between now and the start of training camp.
No. 21 Jack Sanborn
Position: Linebacker
NFL experience: Second season
Last year’s ranking: N/A
Looking back: Fans rarely expect much out of an undrafted rookie. Linebacker Jack Sanborn was no different. That’s generally how it goes with undrafted players. If they contribute at all during the regular season, that’s a win.
The Lake Zurich native signed with the Bears after a stellar career at Wisconsin, and promptly went on to make the 53-man roster coming out of training camp. Still, he didn’t play much the first half of the season. Everything changed when the Bears traded away veteran linebacker Roquan Smith. Sanborn found himself in the starting lineup. He quickly began making big plays. He had two sacks in only his second start of the season in Week 10. He had a season-high 15 combined tackles in a Week 12 loss to the Jets.
Unfortunately, Sanborn’s stellar rookie season was cut short in mid-December due to a season-ending ankle injury. He missed the final three games of the season.
Looking forward: The Bears have totally revamped the linebacker position. They allowed Nicholas Morrow to walk away in free agency (Morrow signed with the Eagles). To replace Morrow and Smith, the Bears spent big on Tremaine Edmunds (four years, $72 million) and T.J. Edwards (three years, $19.5 million). The Bears also selected Oregon linebacker Noah Sewell in the fifth round of the draft.
In Matt Eberflus’ 4-3 defensive scheme, the starting lineup includes three linebackers. But in today’s NFL, every team is typically using five defensive backs the majority of the time. The third linebacker might find himself on the bench more than half the time, even if he’s technically a starter in a 4-3 scheme.
On paper, Sanborn and Sewell will probably battle it out for the third starting linebacker spot. Edmunds and Edwards are going to be in the starting lineup. The Bears are hoping that Sanborn might be the perfect fit for that third spot. It would also allow him to continue to contribute on special teams. The Bears are already poised to improve greatly with the free agency additions at linebacker. If Sanborn can do what he did late last season, and keep improving his game, this could be an elite linebacker unit.
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