D'Marco Jackson

Jackson looked like a player getting more comfortable every time Chicago asked for more. He brings energy, physicality and enough playmaking to make a legitimate push for a larger role.

Strengths: Tackling, urgency, blitz potential, ball production and recent starting experience.

Weaknesses: His résumé is still small, so he must prove he can sustain the same impact over a full workload.

Jackson made himself hard to ignore late last year. He went from depth and special teams to 15 tackles in his first start, then recorded his first sack and interception against Cleveland on the way to NFC Defensive Player of the Week. He also held up in the playoffs. I have him at a six because four career starts are still four career starts, but he brings legitimate upside as the first linebacker off the bench.

Strengths: He plays fast, tackles with intent and has clear special-teams value. Jackson showed he can blitz, cover short zones and handle a larger snap count without looking overwhelmed when injuries forced him into action.

Weaknesses: His résumé is based on a late-season surge rather than a full starting year. He still needs to prove consistent gap discipline and coverage reliability when offenses can game-plan specifically for him.