The Chicago Bears are set to start training camp in roughly a week and this part of the offseason is when things really start to ramp up for every player on the roster.
Training camp is especially crucial for depth players looking to stand out in hopes of securing a spot on the final 53-man roster going into the regular season.
For Bears' second-year running back Ian Wheeler, the upcoming weeks will be an even bigger opportunity to impress again in front of an entirely new coaching staff.
Wheeler was one of the training camp and preseason standouts last summer in Chicago. His growth in such a short period of time was eye opening, even on the outside of things, and he became a fan favorite as a result.
Unfortunately, Wheeler suffered a torn ACL in the team's preseason finale against the Kansas City Chiefs, forcing him to miss his entire rookie season after signing as an undrafted free agent.
Now, with the injury behind him, Wheeler is looking to bounce back and continue to prove he belongs on this team.
"Coming off an injury like that, just readying myself for a new challenge and new opportunity. . . Just taking the time to really lock in over the next few months to put myself in the best position to succeed," Wheeler said on the Bears Weekly Podcast.
Standing out in the Bears' running back room will be a tough task for the former undrafted free agent. Wheeler will be working in the backfield with D'Andre Swift, Roschon Johnson, Travis Homer, seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai and another UDFA in Deion Hankins.
It's going to be crowded position in camp and the offensive scheme being put into place by the new staff is going to be dependent on having a strong ground game, putting even more pressure on these players to step up.
Speaking of the new staff, the Bears' running back room will be led by one of the best in the league in Eric Bieniemy. As a former NFL running back himself, Bieniemy has a no nonsense coaching style that players appreciate and like head coach Ben Johnson, he's very particular about all the little details.
"He's a good coach and he takes a lot of time to teach us a lot of fundamental things," Wheeler said of Bieniemy. "Sometimes we talk about stuff for a while and it's a little bit repetitive. It's that time to repetition that ends up making things stick a little better."
Continuing to show off the "flashes"
When discussing the entire running back room earlier in the offseason, Bieniemy mentioned how Wheeler "showed flashes" with the previous staff last year and how he's a player the coaches can continue looking to develop.
It didn't start out that way in training camp. Last season, we got to see some in-depth looks at the Bears' practice and Wheeler was a player the previous coaches were hard on to help try and bring out the best in his game.
"I think the most defining thing that changed throughout training camp, the reason why I got better beginning to the end, was I just got more confident in myself," Wheeler added.
That confidence started to show on the field, both in practice and during the preseason. Wheeler already had the vision and speed needed to be a threat and running with more confidence allowed him to blossom even more as a player.
The second-year back noted he models his game after Adrian Peterson, someone Bieniemy helped coach with the Minnesota Vikings that became one of the most feared backs in the entire league. By working with a coach like Bieniemy, Wheeler can unlock even more in his game and already highlighted on key area he can do so.
"I need to learn how to drop my pads, I'll be honest with you," Wheeler jokingly explained. "[Peterson] is definitely more of an up-right guy and the second effort when it comes to running, that's something I take a lot of pride in. Just not having the first guy be able to tackle you, whether that's three people holding onto your leg and just being able to step out of it, there's a couple things like that I really model myself after."
Being a player who can churn out the tough yards and be physical against a defense while having the homerun threat gives Wheeler a nice blend for coaches to work with. But, as a fringe roster player, he'll have to show he can make an impact on special teams as well.
If he can shine in all those areas throughout training camp, joint practice, and preseason action once again, he can make a real push for a final roster spot.
