Top under-the-radar Chicago Bears players in 2024: No. 4 Kiran Amegadjie

The Bears are heading toward a momentous training camp. Veteran players will report to Halas Hall for camp July 19. The team will hit the practice field the following day.

All eyes will be on the Bears this summer. They have the No. 1 overall draft pick in Caleb Williams, and they will be the featured team on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.”

But who are some of the under-the-radar players who could be big contributors in 2024? Shaw Local is counting down the top five under-the-radar Bears this week. These could be players who are waiting for an opportunity to take on a bigger role, rookies looking to make an impact or simply a player who Bears fans aren’t talking enough about.

Here’s a look at No. 4 on the list.

No. 4 Kiran Amegadjie

Position: Offensive tackle

Experience: Rookie

Looking back: The Bears selected Yale offensive tackle Kiran Amegadjie with the with a third-round draft pick (No. 75 overall) in the spring. The Bears wound up picking only five total players in the draft. Amegadjie was their first selection since taking Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze in the first round.

Amegadjie was a top tackle in the Ivy League with Yale. He grew up in the Chicago suburbs and played high school ball at Hinsdale Central. His selection by the Bears was a homecoming for the 22-year-old.

The Bears have two starting tackles returning in 2024: left tackle Braxton Jones and right tackle Darnell Wright. There was some speculation ahead of the draft that the Bears might consider taking a tackle with one of their two first-round picks. That ultimately didn’t happen.

Taking Amegadjie in the third round doesn’t necessarily threaten either of the starting tackle jobs for Jones (a fifth-round pick in 2022) or Wright (the No. 10 overall pick in 2023). But it does add competition at the position.

Looking forward: Amegadjie is flying under the radar because he’s not expected to be a starter. But on the offensive line, injuries are bound to happen. Wright played 99% of offensive snaps in 2023. Jones played every offensive snap in 2022, but then missed six games last season because of a neck injury.

It’s likely that at some point the Bears will need a backup tackle to step into a starting role for a few games. That’s pretty much a fact of life in the trenches these days. For the Bears, that would likely be either Amegadjie or fourth-year veteran Larry Borom coming in to start.

The fact that the Bears prioritized Amegadjie in the draft seems to indicate that they feel he could be a high-quality backup who might potentially develop into a starter. He’s probably the most likely candidate to enter the game should an injury occur. Going from the Ivy League to the NFL is a big step up in competition, but the Bears clearly believe Amegadjie can handle it.

General manager Ryan Poles found a starting left tackle in Jones with a fifth-round pick out of FCS Southern Utah. Might Poles catch lightning in a bottle again with Amegadjie? The rookie tackle will be among the team’s greatest curiosities in 2024.