Bears LB Jack Sanborn turned heads with his performance
The Chicago Bears had multiple bubble players step up in a big way in Saturday’s win versus the Kansas City Chiefs. Tuesday, Tajae Sharpe was rated as PFF’s highest-rated pass receiver. Now it’s Bears rookie Jack Sanborn’s opportunity to make a national headline.
Sanborn played his butt off Saturday. He recorded an interception and fumble recovery. If the undrafted rookie free agent wanted to make the roster, his performance against the Chiefs is a masterclass on how to make it.
PFF rated rookies and UDFA’s performances during Week One of the preseason. No surprise, Sanborn was at the top of each list.
Michael Renner of PFF gave an excellent rundown as to why:
The former Badgers duo takes the top spots. For starters, Sanborn never should have gone undrafted. He was simply too productive at Wisconsin and more than athletic enough to fill a role on an NFL roster to fall that far. And as a related point, he’s making this Bears roster with performances like Week 1’s.
Sanborn finished with four defensive stops, a pick and a pass breakup on only 26 snaps. Matt Eberflus’ scheme is famous for giving linebackers freedom to play fast with their reads, and Sanborn was doing just that against the Chiefs
Teams might be wishing they had drafted Jack Sanborn
Bears general manager Ryan Poles might have been gifted a linebacker in Sanborn. Who needs draft picks when you can get draft pick-worthy players out of the UDFA market?
Sanborn might become a familiar name in the households of Bears fans. With Roquan Smith holding out, Sanborn has an opportunity to fight for a roster spot and playing time for the team. Sanborn is doing one thing Smith has been weak at in his career, getting turnovers.
Smith has one fumble recovery, one forced fumble, and five interceptions for his entire four-year career. If Jack Sanborn can continue to grow in training camp and make impressive plays like these during games, I see no reason to cave into Smith’s demands or trade. Have the eager rookie make Smith sweat a little bit.
More must-reads: