3 Chicago Bears players that Cleveland Browns fans should watch

Cleveland Browns fans will want to keep an eye out on these three Chicago Bears players.

The Cleveland Browns will take on the Chicago Bears on Saturday night in their last preseason game of the year. For the Browns, it’ll be a chance to finally see Jacoby Brissett in action, and for Bears fans, it’ll be an opportunity to cry about how bad your future looks.

Because outside of the New York Jets, I don’t think there is one franchise with as bleak of a future as the Bears. Heck, the Texans are going to have two Top 10 picks this season (yup), so they can reshape their entire franchise in one draft. The Jets and Bears are so in step with one another it’s not funny.

Both Justin Fields and Zach Wilson are just in their second years in the NFL and at least for Fields, it feels like he’s been here a decade. The two young quarterbacks have been stunted by bad head coaching heading into their second years and franchises are evaluated by the state of their quarterbacks. The Bears have not had a real franchise quarterback in years, with their best being Jay Cutler, who makes Baker Mayfield look like Tom Brady.

So who should the Browns fans look forward to watching on the other side of the ball Saturday night?

Three Chicago Bears players to keep an eye on

Justin Fields

Watching Justin Fields play last year against the Cleveland Browns was rough. The former Ohio State product looked haggard and uncomfortable. There was hope that when Matt Eberflus was hired as the team’s new head coach, he could smooth out the issues that Fields had. Well, if fixing your quarterback is your top priority, don’t hire a defensive guy. It might work out, but it might not. For his preseason, Fields hasn’t looked good. In 27 snaps, he’s thrown just 14 times and racked up just 87 yards. Now, a lot of this has to do with the Bears’ best receivers being out. They’re limiting him on purpose, but still, if you’re looking for hope that Fields is progressing, you can’t be happy with what you’re seeing.

Roquan Smith

Maybe NFL players are taking too many cues from the NBA. If the Nets aren’t trading Kevin Durant, what makes Roquan Smith think he’s getting his wish? The drama is over with Smith and he’s committed to playing for the Bears and proving his worth, which is good. He’s going to be rusty as heck, which is bad. So his play in Week 3 of the preseason will be the first step to seeing if Smith is worth the money.

Kyler Gordon

Originally, this was going to be both Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker, as they were the Bears’ first two picks, and both play in their remade secondary. Yet, Brisker is questionable due to having thumb surgery a little less than a week ago. It’s unlikely they’d roll him out to get busted up further. Gordon and the Bears secondary are going to be a point of emphasis for any fandom watching. Statistically, they were among the best defenses against the pass, but that doesn’t show you the whole picture. The Bears’ defense ranked 4th in fewest yards given up, but they were tied for second in most passing touchdowns given up. What does that tell you? The Bears’ defense started with a short field and the opposing offenses never had to go far to score. The hope is the new additions to the secondary, plus a defensive-minded coach, can help turn the Bears’ defense around.