I've analyzed the roster and put together my list of players based on the following:
1. Overall perceived talent
2. Importance of this player succeeding during the 2016 season
3. Depth of their position
4. Team's investment in that player
5. The amount of alcohol/coffee consumed while pondering over the list
Let's use each of these threads as a discussion for these players and your thoughts on their placement on my Top 40, and how you agree/disagree with what a petulant, wrong-thinking oaf I am.
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Previous Entries:
#40. Mitch Unrein
#39. Josh Bellamy
#38. Rob Housler
#37. DeAndre Houston-Carson & Deiondre’ Hall
#36. Deonte Thompson & Omar Bolden
#35. Marc Mariani
#34. Sherrick McManis
#33. Pat O'Donnell
#32. Manny Ramirez / WHOOPS
#31. Ted Larsen
#30. Harold Jones-Quartey
#29. Ego Ferguson
#28. Bryce Callahan
#27. Nick Kwiatkoski
#26. Deon Bush
#25. Eddie Royal
#24. Lamarr Houston
#23. Brian Hoyer
#22. Willie Young
#21. Cody Whitehair
#20. Jonathan Bullard
#19. Robbie Gould
#18. Jerrell Freeman
#17. Tracy Porter
#16. Leonard Floyd
#15. Akiem Hicks
#14. Bobbie Massie
#13. Zach Miller
#12. Adrian Amos
#11. Kyle Fuller
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#10. LB Danny Trevathan
26 Y/O – 6'1" – 231 lbs
Danny Trevathan's Broncos career was a fine display of how a late round pick can become premiere NFL talent. Taken in the 6th round as part of a Jets trade for Tim Tebow, Trevathan cut his teeth for two seasons, having a huge impact on the 2013 AFC title team and 2016 championship squads. The defense of the latter team rivals some of the best of all time, and when Trevathan departed for his free agency payday, Chicago was the obvious choice. With his former Broncos HC John Fox manning the helm, the defense in great need of talent at linebacker, and cap space for the spending, he arrived to great fanfare.
In the prime of his career, Trevathan joins a reborn linebacker corps that aches for redemption after a season of trials. He has already demonstrated his charisma, addressing the media with roguish humor quite often, and his new teammates got a display of swagger in the early portions of the NFL year. His Super Bowl ring was on display at Halas Hall recently, showing them the ultimate prize, and reminding them that he knows what it takes to earn one.
He is one of the most athletic linebackers in the NFL, deadly against the run and in coverage, offering the kind of dynamic versatility that Pace covets on his roster. Trevathan's leadership seems apparent in his rhetoric, touting that the defense needs be hungry for victory and maintain common goals, and like Pernell McPhee preached before him, the defense can only turnover so much talent before a new attitude has to take them to the next level.
Trevathan's big contract demands exceptional play, and the table is set for Trevathan to lead by example. The Bears have had such a total rebirth at the linebacker position that we shouldn't have to watch film to analyze microscopic differences between the 2015 and 2016 squads. The 2016 squad should be on some totally different level.
