If anything, in a best-case scenario, the Bears have more reliable nickel depth than they’ve enjoyed in years. Barring an injury, I don’t expect a well-performing veteran to be eclipsed by a rookie or second-year player. Robert Zeglinski: I get the impression Chuck Pagano and his defensive staff love Buster Skrine. I think Kevin Toliver or possibly Deon Bush would be better bets to steal snaps at Nickel over either Shelley or Vildor. Given how Buster Skrine has received so much flack from his days with the New York Jets, he turned out to be a pleasant surprise in 2019 when an actual front seven was present. If anything, both of the young DBs are likely destined as Dime specialists. Maybe that’s recency bias on my part, but if I had to pick one player to be first off the bench to fill in for Skrine, Vildor is my pick.Įrik Christopher Duerrwaechter: I don’t believe either Duke Shelley or Kindle Vildor will push Buster Skrine anytime soon. What he lacks in size, he makes up for in mental makeup as an aggressive play maker with some serious swagger. Despite not being taken until the fifth-round, he’s no scrub. Who will be the primary backup for Skrine? That’s a more interesting conversation and for as much as I actually liked Shelley’s film at Kansas State, I think Vildor’s ability and mindset is very well suited for the nickel spot. Amukamara was awful, and to put it nicely, Fuller was highly inconsistent. Much like most people, I wasn’t a huge fan of the original signing last off-season, but I actually think for the better part of the year, Skrine was the team’s most consistent “starting” cornerback in 2019. Will anyone actually push Skrine or take his job? Highly unlikely. Chicago saves nearly $3M on the 2021 cap with Skrine gone, and the team really wants this one to be an easy cut next year.Īaron Leming: I think this is a two level question, personally. Skrine is likely in his last season as a Bear and Chicago needs one of these two youngsters to be next year’s starter for financial reasons. Given that Shelley didn’t prove much in the limited playing time he had, I don’t know if he’s in a safe situation on the active roster. The Bears will likely need to cut costs next offseason, and Skrine could be a possible cap casualty. However, I do expect Vildor to take the starting role over this time next year. He had a solid 2019 campaign all things considered, and there’s no reason to think that he should be taken out of the starting lineup yet. Jacob Infante: For this season, I expect Skrine’s spot as the primary nickelback to be safe. Given that Skrine held his position well last year, I doubt either youngster challenges him in a shortened camp. And while I’d love to see progress from Shelley or flashes from Vildor this year, our lack of access to Bears’ camp and the fact that we’re not getting preseason games means fans may not actually see either player play defense at all in 2020. Skrine is a solid player that’s being paid a fairly hefty chunk of change in 2020, and that’s the common recipe for a starter in the NFL. Shelley had only 8 defensive snaps last year. Amukamara did not have a good season and if Shelley was truly pushing for time in practice, they could have bumped Skrine outside and given Shelley opportunities. I understand Shelley is only a second-year player, and despite all the great things we heard about him in OTAs last year, he couldn’t get on the field, this despite there being opportunities for him. I think the fact that Vildor is a rookie and the Bears just invested a 5th round pick in him, makes him a virtual lock to make the roster. As for who will be behind Skrine, I think that question is interesting. I’ll give my take after checking in with my WCG teammates.ĮDITOR: These answers were given before cornerback Artie Burns was lost to the season with a torn ACL.īill Zimmerman: The short answer here is “No.” Skrine will be the primary nickel on the Bears in 2020. Will second year pro Duke Shelley or rookie Kindle Vildor push 31-year old Buster Skrine at nickelback? If you missed the first three parts of this series, you can check here (CB), here (SS), and here (ILB), and today’s topic is the nickelback spot. It wasn’t my intention to make this latest Windy City Gridiron Chicago Bears round table all about the defense, but with so much of the training camp attention being heaped on the offense, it does feel good to get some defensive discussion going here at WCG.
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