With Jack Sanborn in Dallas, the third linebacker on the Bears is up for grabs
Let’s move over to the defensive side of the ball as we look at our next training camp battle in 2025.
Jack Sanborn was one of the more popular players on the Chicago Bears roster the last couple of seasons. The Bears were comfortable with him as their SAM linebacker, utilizing him in base packages when they weren’t in nickel. Sanborn also was the team’s top sub, filling in for both Tremaine Edmunds and TJ Edwards if either of them were injured and missed time.
Jack Sanborn is now a member of the Dallas Cowboys, and the Bears did not go out and sign any other veteran to replace him as the team’s LB3. That means there’s an opportunity for someone to step into that role. Could it be the veteran Noah Sewell? Or will the rookie Ruben Hyppolite grab the opportunity and run with it?
Let’s take a look at Sewell. Sewell has become a reliable special-teams player, logging over 400 special-teams snaps in his first two seasons in the league. However, Sewell made no progress taking snaps from the top three linebackers, where he just had 32 defensive snaps total thus far in his NFL career.
Was Sewell’s lack of defensive play due to his lack of ability or just that he wasn’t as good as the guys in front of him? We will find out this year because the opportunity is wide open for him to step up and start playing more on the defensive side of the ball.
Hyppolite is an interesting guy as well. When this selection was announced, I think a lot of Bears fans looked around and said, “Who?” Many draft experts thought Hyppolite was more of a 6th or 7th-round pick or even a UDFA-level prospect, but the Bears swooped in and selected him in round four.
Many draft experts also noted that Hyppolite was a late riser in draft circles due to his blazing speed. He runs a sub-4.4 40. He’s the type of athlete that, if his football skills develop, he can become an absolute force for a defense.
Hyppolite doesn’t shed blockers well; he’s going to have to improve in that aspect and build strength as well. If his instincts are good and he can move to the ball before the offensive linemen get their pads on him, that will go a long way to assist him.
Even if Hyppolite doesn’t develop into a defender, with his speed, he should be able to develop into an outstanding special-teams player. But the Bears don’t need a special-teams player; they need a SAM. Will it be Sewell or will it be Hyppolite?
Of course, the Bears will be in their nickel package frequently. Nobody is going to argue that Sewell or Hyppolite should be on the field more often than Kyler Gordon. We know the Bears will be sitting in nickel frequently, and the subs along the defensive line will be seeing more snaps per game than the Bears’ LB3 if everyone remains healthy.
But that’s the big question: health. You can sit here as a fan and say the SAM battle isn’t that important because they probably won’t play more than 10 to 12 snaps per game, but what if Edwards or Edmunds go down for a few games? Who is the guy that can step in and play MIKE or WILL?
If that’s the case, suddenly this battle becomes important to the team’s success this season. I think, being that Sewell has had very little success defensively at this point, has had some injury issues as well, and was not a selection of Ben Johnson or Dennis Allen’s, I think the Bears will give Hyppolite every chance to win this job.
Linebacker depth is one of the worst spots on the team, which opens the door to other issues because Tremaine Edmunds almost certainly won’t be on this team next year, but this isn’t a concern about 2026 right now; this is a concern about 2025.
Who will be the team’s LB3 this season? It’s another training camp battle to watch.