Chicago Bears must consider UFL standout as training camp lottery ticket

“Beckett is a natural chase linebacker, who can immediately help on special teams as well,” he concluded.

Chicago Bears linebacker situation 

After Edmunds and Edwards, players like Ruben Hyppolite II, Noah Sewell and Amen Ogbongbemiga are all battling for defensive opportunities. The latter has mainly been a special teams player throughout his career, but could make a strong impression on new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. Hyppolite and Sewell are two young linebackers entering much different phases of their career.

Hyppolite was just selected in the fourth-round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He was an unheralded prospect who wasn’t invited to the combine or on many analyst’s big board. However, Hyppolite was able to impress the Bears with his reported 4.39 40-yard dash at Maryland’s Pro Day. His stats in college don’t jump off the page with just three sacks over five seasons. Still, Allen and company certainly saw something in Hyppolite to take him in the fourth.

Sewell was a fifth-round pick back in 2023, pre-Johnson but during general manager Ryan Poles’ tenure. In his two years with the, Sewell has made 13 tackles and two forced fumbles. He’s entering make-or-break territory and must prove in training camp that he can fit Allen’s defense.

But even if Hyppolite and Sewell shine during camp, neither of them are proven commodities in the NFL. To be fair, neither is Beckett. Still, bringing in an outside option would give Chicago a bit more depth as they build out their linebacker position.

What Tavante Beckett brings to table 

Beckett signed with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2021. He made it into four games with the team, but never recorded a stat. To this point, that is all of the linebacker’s experience in the NFL.

However, Beckett has become a star since joining the UFL in 2023. He was originally a third-round pick by the Houston Roughnecks in the XFL Draft. Beckett’s team was then merged with the Houston Gamblers of then then USFL. But ultimately, the linebacker ended up with the Brahmas in the 2024 UFL dispersal draft.

In his first year with San Antonio, Beckett racked up 67 tackles, nine for a loss, 1.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. He followed that up with 77 tackles in 2025, second-most in the UFL. Beckett added four pass breakups and a sack on the way to his second All-UFL nomination.

At this stage of his career, Beckett would be a true lottery pick. It’s fair to wonder how the UFL’s competition stacks up against the NFL’s. But in a sense, the same could be said about college football. The type is hyped up on Hyppolite’s potential, but it may take time for him to get up to speed.

Beckett wouldn’t singlehandedly fix the position and in the end it may not pan out. But his run in the UFL at least proved that he could be a tackling machine capable of making plays all over the field. It wouldn’t be the flashiest signing of the offseason, but he’d at least give Allen another intriguing tool to work with at the linebacker position.