Bears Rookie Minicamp Buzz: 42-Inch Vert, Giant Tackle & Position Battles Heat Up

The Bears' weekend rookie minicamp will include 23 undrafted rookie tryouts and several players are at positions of real team need, including running back.

These tryouts are in addition to the regular drafted rookies and undrafted players who have signed contracts.

One of the ways prospects can catch scouts' eyes, whether they managed to do it on the field or not, is with an incredible number. Portland State running back Christian Grubb had one from his pro day that is sure to open eyes and spin heads.

Grubb had a 42-inch vertical jump.

Only one player had a leap so high at the combine and that was safety Nick Emmanwori at 43 inches.

Usually pro day times are rather suspect but a vertical is performed pretty much the same way with an objective measuring device at every locale.

It would seem Grubb must have been playing the wrong position. A 42-inch leap is more in line with a receiver or a defensive back.

Grubb ran the ball 73 times for 409 yards, a 5.6-yard average, over two Portland State seasons. He only caught six passes for 18 yards. Grubb was at UCLA from 2019-22 but red-shirted and then took a COVID-19 year. He had barely played for the Bruins before leaving.

The other players being given tryouts at a need position are edge rushers Cole Nelson from Virginia Tech and Nana Asare Osafo-Mensah from TCU.

Osafo-Mensah is 6-3, 259 and played most of his career at Notre Dame. He made eight career sacks and 19 tackles for loss. With the Fighting Irish, he had five sacks and 10 tackles for loss in four years before going to TCU.

Nelson (6-3, 251) made nine sacks and 17 tackles for loss at Virginia Tech.

A few other players getting a tryout of note include a pair of UCLA DBs and gigantic tackle Brayden Keim from Brigham Young. Keim is listed in scouting reports at 6-foot-8, 322 but BYU had him at 6-9 on some of its rosters.

The unusual aspect of Keim's tryout is he'd be a 27-year-old undrafted rookie if a team signed him. He did a Mormon mission from 2016-18 in Scotland and Ireland before his college career began.

Two other players with unusual size for their positions are UCLA's DBs, safety Bryan Addison and cornerback Devin Kirkwood. Addison is 6-foot-4 and Kirkwood 6-3.

The camp will also include several Bears players already under contract. Wide receiver John Jackson, tackle Theo "The Canadian Eagle" Benedet, linebacker Carl Jones Jr., quarterback Austin Reed and tight ends Joel Wilson and Jordan Murray will participate in the workouts and meetings that run through Sunday.

Bears undrafted rookie tryouts

P Lachian Wilson, California

QB Matthew Downing, Elon

RB Christian Grubb, Portland State

DB Bryquice Brown, Boston College

DB Sheldon Arnold, Central Florida

DB Jeremiah Walker, Stephen S. Austin

DB Jordan Mahoney, Arkansas State

DB Bryan Addison, UCLA

DB Devin Kirkwood, UCLA

DB Isaiah Greene, Campbell

TE Reggie Brown, Tulane

LB Michael Batton, Houston

TE Thomas Gordon, Northwestern

OL Sebastian Pares, Eastern Illinois

OL Vershon Lee, South Carolina

OL Vincent Murphy, Tulane

OL Brayden Keim, BYU

OL Emmit Bohle, Arizona State

WR Jeremiah Hunter, Washington

TE Dominick Mazotti, Mass-Amherst

DT Giovanni Paez, LSU

DE Nana Asare Osafo-Mensah, TCU

DE Cole Nelson, Va. Tech