Five things we learned about the Chicago Bears special teams unit after hearing from Richard Hightower

2. Incoming competition for the veterans

While speaking with the media, Hightower brought up two positions that saw new competition get added this offseason: Kicker and Long Snapper, with two undrafted free agents being added to help push the level of competition at those spots.

At kicker, veteran Cario Santos is in competition against rookie Jonathan Kim. Santos has been a very accurate kicker for the Bears over the last few years from short-yardage but noticeably struggles on longer kicks. Kim, by comparison, has a much stronger leg but it all comes down to accuracy.

"I think the #1 thing with kickers is accuracy," Hightower said. "If you got the long leg, it's great if you've got 55+ [yards] and you can hit those. Those are definitely valuable if you have one that can do that, but he's got to be accurate."

At long snapper, veteran Scott Daly will be competing against rookie Luke Elkin. What gives Elkin a leg up is that he was the long snapper at Iowa and played alongside punter Tory Taylor, so the two already have some chemistry working together.

3. New bag of tricks for Tory Taylor

Speaking of the second-year punter, Taylor has been working on his craft all offseason and has added some different style kicks to his arsenal that have been challenging the punt returners' ability to catch.

"You know how it is when you're a rookie and you're coming in drinking out of a firehose," Hightower explained. "He's had a chance to really train. Not train for the Combine, not those type of things, where you're always doing something in preparation for the draft. So, he's come back with a lot of different kicks and we're excited to work with those throughout camp."

Already as a rookie, Taylor had a booming leg that can flip the entire field for his team. Adding some different style kicks to his belt and being able to place balls where he wants can make him much more of a weapon for this unit.

4. Back to the basics at punt returner

This was a spot the Bears played around with going into the 2024 season. Ultimately, the main returners ended up being Deandre Carter and Josh Blackwell. However, this offseason, two new additions were made that can upgrade the return game.

The first was former All-Pro kick returner Devin Duvernay and the second was rookie Luther Burden III, who finally returned to the field on Monday.

"When he has the ball in his hands, he's a different dude. He's dynamic," Hightower said of Burden. "That's what stands out to me and we're excited about ways he can prove that he can help this football team. But, he's got to prove it."

Proving it comes down to the basics of punt returning. It doesn't matter how dynamic of a player you are, you have to secure the ball first.

"The first goal is to catch the football and always give it back to our offense," Hightower added. "Once we catch it, we're looking for a guy that can make plays, game-changing plays. Not just a first-down, we want guys that can make people miss in space and that can take it to the house."

5. Deciding who will round out the unit

Training camp is the time for players to separate themselves in hopes of making the roster and the easiest way to do so is by standing out in a variety of ways on special teams. Players who want to secure a final roster spot have be willing to contribute in any way.

"From Day 1, if you don't have that [mentality], you're probably not going to last long in our room," Hightower noted. "We judge that by the way they work. We evaluate everything they do. We evaluate how they watch tape, how they come back, how hard they work in the weight room, how they walk around, how they treat people, all of that is part of being a pro. And then ultimately, it's about producing. If they don't have the right mentality, they can't play here anyway because that's how Ben is, and they damn sure can't play in my room if they don't have the right mentality."

The Bears take a lot of pride in the special teams unit and for good reason. This unit can easily change the outcome of games with the right people on the field.