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The Chicago Bears opened their 2026 season with a 34-10 dominant showing against the Cleveland Browns. Both teams decided to sit some of their starters, but these games still do determine who might make the 53-man roster once it gets down to the wire before Week 1. Especially in this game, there were several players who moved their stock upwards. The only thing that might matter, obviously, is doing it the next two games for these guys. Three Chicago Bears Players Who Showed Out in Preseason Opener Here couple of honorable mentions. The first guy is Malik Muhammad, who was also in his first-ever action in the NFL. Muhammad, a fourth-round pick from this past year’s draft, showed physicality but at a couple different points showed the struggles of what is a tough position to grasp at cornerback. He had a penalty that negated a sack and got a late jump and allowed an easy conversion to move the sticks inside the red zone. That said, the more he plays, the better he should be later on, just that the Bears will have to deal with the struggles. The next guy that just misses out is Salvon Ahmed. The running back (RB) had a banner day by taking a screen pass all the way for a touchdown. Of course, that play also had a tremendous blocking effort by the Bears (remember head coach Ben Johnson is all about blocking), and George McCaskey, the Bears owner, was in the booth to see it. The reason he doesn’t make my list is that the Bears at running back are fully equipped to be a strength. Ahmed came here with experience working with Bears running back coach Eric Studesville, but with D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai headlining the position, it is gonna be hard for Ahmed to be much more than probably an RB four. Kaden Davis Getting the list started is undrafted free agent from 2022 in Kaden Davis. Davis has spent the majority of his time on teams’ practice squads before he went to play in the United Football League for the Houston Gamblers. Bears signed him, and he has seemingly been making big play after big play in practice. On Saturday, Davis made four catches for 88 yards. The big long gain of 41 obviously helps, but he also made a nice back-shoulder throw too. Davis has his work cut out for him, though cause the Bears’ wide receiver (WR) room, much like the running back room, is seen as a strength, so WR six or seven is what Davis is trying to push for against Scotty Miller, Ray Ray McCloud, and others. The Bears want to have their offense be explosive and just dominate, and in camp that has been the case for the most part. Jamree Kromah If there is a unit that needs any and all contributors, it is the Chicago Bears’ pass rush. Montez Sweat is a nice piece and, for the most part, has done his job, but nobody else has really stepped up. That opens up an opportunity for a guy like Jamree Kromah. Kromah definitely did a lot for himself when he achieved six total tackles (five solo), two sacks, two quarterback hits, and a strip sack fumble recovery. If he can keep it up, I don’t think the Chicago Bears can have him off the roster. There is something to what the Bears have done at the position, but only time will tell if it works. Beanie Bishop Jr The last guy up also had a standout performance (aided by the Browns QBs) and has an opportunity in front of him. Beanie Bishop Jr intercepted two passes on Saturday and played the type of ballhawk that cornerbacks coach Al Harris likes to have in his secondary. However, Bishop is set to miss the first three games because of a violation of the NFL’s substance policy. That has to be taken into question whether he should be rostered if he is gonna miss that time. The injuries to the Bears’ secondary, though, have opened up a place for a guy like Bishop to show his skills and truly make a decision tough on coaches. Preseason Expectations Honestly, the preseason doesn’t hit the same this year as opposed to other years. Usually in the past, the fans had to look forward to young, unproven quarterbacks taking a step into the NFL. New coaches are starting to implement new systems on both sides, but the Chicago Bears have continuity on both sides. They have a quarterback looking to obviously improve but has the full confidence in his head coach and his abilities to perform. But these depth chart battles are still fun to watch, and the great thing about it is we still have two games left to decide it all. Main Images: Patrick Gorski-Imagn