Windy City Gridiron
Friday, August 15 marked the final day of Bears training camp practices that were made open to the public. Joint practices with the Dolphins and Bills and the installation of a brand new coaching staff’s playbook marked the biggest storylines from this year’s camp.
There’s still plenty of preseason action left to play, and the Bears will continue practices behind closed doors. However, with the end of public training camp practices, now is a good time to look back on the biggest winners from this year’s camp.
Whether it be because of their performance in camp or the situation around them, there are plenty of Bears players with higher stock than what they previous had. Here are the five biggest winners from Chicago’s training camp in 2025.
Leading up to training camp, questions revolved around the availability of Luther Burden due to a hamstring injury he sustained in OTAs. He was a little late to the party compared to some of his other 2025 draft picks on Chicago’s roster, but once he got on the field, he made a big impact.
Burden’s athleticism has translated well to the Bears’ practice field. His deep speed and shiftiness was apparent to anybody who watched him in college at Missouri, and his ball skills have been on full display in camp, as well. His abilities after the catch haven’t even been fully demonstrated yet.
Perhaps the most underrated aspect of Burden’s game has been his attention to detail. In college, he was inconsistent in terms of his route effort when he wasn’t the primary read. His ability to disguise route concepts wasn’t as polished as it could be, as well. However, he has looked good as a route runner in camp and in his preseason debut, showcasing a strong understanding of exploiting leverage through his stems and varying his tempo to work himself open against zone coverage.
Olamide Zaccheaus has also performed well in training camp, and he figures to be Burden’s top competition for reps in the slot. That said, it’s been very encouraging to see the second-round rookie perform as well as he has since coming back from injury.
Since the hiring of Dennis Allen as the Bears’ new defensive coordinator under Ben Johnson, the starting outside cornerback spot opposite Jaylon Johnson has become wide open. With the veteran corner missing time due to injury, it has provided the other cornerbacks on the roster ample playing time in training camp. The biggest benefactor of that has been Nahshon Wright.
Wright was a third-round pick by the Cowboys in 2021, having been traded to the Vikings in 2024 and staying on their practice squad last season. Because of his lack of playing time in the NFL, the Bears’ acquisition of him in April flew under the radar amidst more heralded additions like Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson, Drew Dalman, and Dayo Odeyingbo around that time.
The 6’4” Wright has looked right at home in...
