Fading stars

It seems like every year, many of the most impressive players in Bears training camp and the preseason fail to make the final roster or are ignored once the regular season begins.

Last year Garrett Wolfe led the team in preseason carries (39), rushing yards (104) and receptions (11) and was second with 76 receiving yards. But, when they started playing for keeps, Wolfe got just 31 carries all season and managed only 85 yards, and he caught 9 passes for 117 yards.

Mike Hass was one of the stars of the 2007 training camp, catching everything thrown anywhere close to him, and he caught 4 passes in the preseason for 67 yards. When the regular season started he was inactive for 15 games and didn't catch a pass, despite playing on a team that lacked a solid receiving threat aside from Bernard Berrian.

This year, Hass and Brandon Rideau both looked good in camp, and Rideau had a 13-yard TD in the preseason opener, but both are long shots to make the final roster. Meanwhile, Mark Bradley, who has rarely shown up in a positive way and has just 1 preseason catch for 7 yards, will probably get another year to live up to the potential he flashed as a rookie way back in 2005. He had 6 catches all of last season while playing in 15 games.

Go figure.