Bears roster preview: Elijah Hicks, safety depth

As we head toward a new season, Bears Digest is looking at each member of the 53-man roster to recap their 2023-24 season and look ahead to the upcoming campaign. Today, we focus on safety depth. Check out our past stories on each member of the offense , punter Tory Taylor , kicker Cairo Santos , the defensive linemen , linebackers and safeties Kevin Byard , Jaquan Brisker and Jonathan Owens .

The top of the Chicago Bears’ depth chart at safety seems pretty well set, but there are also several other strong candidates fighting for a roster spot.

We’ve already highlighted Owens’ case as not only a solid depth player but even a situational player on defense. Elijah Hicks is currently listed as the other second-string safety.

Related: Bears roster preview: Can Jonathan Owens be more than a backup on defense?

Hicks, 24, was a seventh-round pick of the Bears in 2022 and has seen a fair amount of playing time.

He was pressed into action as a starter in two games as a rookie but played significant snaps in four games that year. Last season, he started six games and played significant snaps in eight.

While he’s had some struggles, he’s also flashed some upside, but it can sometimes be a case of the extremes for him.

Pro Football Focus last year gave him a 46.2 overall grade (93rd out of 95 qualifying safeties), plus a 76.5 pass-rush grade (17th), a 40.2 coverage grade (92nd) and a 67.4 run defense grade (46th). Additionally, his 29.8 tackle grade was the second-worst among safeties who played at least 300 defensive snaps last season.

As those grades show, he was generally solid as a pass-rusher and run defender but struggled mightily in coverage and tackling.

On the positive side, Hicks has been a solid special teamer, earning a special teams grade above 80 in both of his professional seasons and totaling seven tackles across those campaigns with only one missed tackle. He’s also gotten good experience to learn from on defense thus far, although it’ll be up to him to show growth. Finally, while his tackling was abysmal in 2023 — his 20.6% missed tackle rate was sixth-highest among safeties — he was much better as a rookie, missing only one, albeit in a smaller role, so there’s hope he can get back to that.

On the negative side, Hicks got torched in coverage. He gave up 11 catches on 14 targets, and that 78.6% reception rate allowed was 17th-highest by a safety last year. He also gave up the 19th-highest yards per catch rate (14.5), the sixth-most touchdowns by a safety (4), the second-worst passer rating allowed by safeties (153.9) and had only one pass breakup with zero interceptions.

Still, he’s currently the frontrunner for the fourth and possibly final safety spot — Chicago only kept four on last year’s initial roster — but he has competition.

The Bears have several other experienced options trying to make their case for the job.

Tarvarius Moore, 27, is a former 49ers third-round pick who spent his first four seasons in San Francisco. He was put on injured reserve after training camp last year and then released by Green Bay before the Bears signed him this spring.

Moore has 61 appearances over four seasons, making 108 tackles and defending five passes while forcing two fumbles and recovering one.

Adrian Colbert, 30, also has plenty of experience from stints with the 49ers, Dolphins, Giants and Jets. He’s appeared on a couple other practice squads, which is how he first joined the Bears in the fall of 2022.

When active, Colbert has appeared in 37 NFL games, recording 109 tackles, eight passes defended, two forced fumbles and one recovery.

Quindell Johnson, an undrafted defensive back who was claimed by Chicago at the end of the preseason last year, made nine appearances for the Bears as a rookie, making three tackles while defending one pass and recording an interception.

Finally, there’s Douglas Coleman III, another undrafted player in 2020 who spent the offseason with Denver after the draft but hasn’t made any NFL rosters before. He has since spent some time in the CFL, excelling last season for Ottawa as a linebacker. He joined the Bears back in January.

Bottom line, none of those last four may make Chicago’s initial roster but there are still some solid practice squad options.

With the addition of Byard and growth from Brisker, the team should get improved play from its starters. Owens adds a really solid special teamer with high-floor play as a backup, and the Bears obviously have plenty of decent options to choose from for their final spot or two. Overall, that’s a really solid group that may not be one of the best in the league but should still provide good production and help raise the floor of the defense. For a team on the rise, that’s a great start.