It's Bears season!

RedEye asked the Bears to single out which teammates they're most excited to see on the field-one each on offense, defense and special teams, and one rookie.

OFFENSE

Robbie Gould, kicker: Brandon Marshall. He's been great. He's a big-bodied receiver with a lot of ability. He'll be able to open the field up for the other receivers. And it's definitely a threat that the defenses are going to have to look out for.

Kelvin Hayden, cornerback: I'll have to go with Brandon Marshall. I'm excited to see that guy. He's bringing a spark to the offense that I think is going to be great for us. He's going to open up a lot of things for us, the running game, and he's going to open up the passing game as well.

Lance Louis, offensive lineman: Alshon Jeffery and Brandon Marshall. Big guys that can go up and catch the ball, speed, route runners. I never really seen Brandon Marshall play in person until the preseason, but it's going to be exciting. I looked at Jeffery when he played in college and I liked him as a player, so I'm excited he's on our team and I'm looking forward to what he's going to bring.

Patrick Mannelly, long snapper: That's easy. Brandon Marshall. It's just everything. He's a complete receiver. I've never played with a receiver that has his ability with everything he can do. It's that simple, seriously. (laughs)

D.J. Moore, cornerback: Marshall. He's new. We never had a receiver like him, so I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do on the field. It's challenging [covering him in practice]. I like to guard the best, and when you guard him you can pretty much say how you would do against any good receiver in the league, because he's one of the best.

Adam Podlesh, punter: Brandon Marshall. He can make amazing plays, and what we've seen from OTAs and into the preseason is that he's got the capability of being a big-time playmaker in our offense. He obviously jells well with Cutler since they played with each other in Denver. So there's a lot of upside to that.

Major Wright, safety: I would go with Brandon Marshall too. Watching him at the Dolphins and in Denver, watching things that he do, it's exciting to see what he brings to this team.

Tim Jennings, cornerback: I would say Alshon Jeffery. I'm excited to see him play, to see what he brings to the team as a young guy, and to see the potential that he has in his career while he's in the NFL.

Eric Weems, return man: Matt Forte. I've seen him on film a couple times, running the ball real hard. making exciting plays. I'm really excited to see him get out there and run the rock.

Gabe Carimi, offensive line: Forte. I always like watching him. He's a great running back. I'm from a run school, so that's always fun to watch.

DEFENSE

Robbie Gould, kicker: Julius Peppers. He's always fun to watch. He's one of the most athletic guys in the National Football League at his position, and maybe even leaguewide. He's a big dude, so it's fun to watch him make plays.

Kelvin Hayden, cornerback: I'm a Julius Peppers fan. That guy, he can do it all. He can get after the quarterback, and he makes things happen for us in the secondary, so to see him do well, it means that only good things are going to happen for us in the secondary.

Major Wright, safety: I would say Julius Peppers. Every game, he brings his a-game. He gets to the quarterback. He creates turnovers. And that rush, that's what we need. So I'm just excited to see him go in and make his plays.

Adam Podlesh, punter: One guy I'm always excited to see is Peanut Tillman. just because I feel like whenever he's in on a tackle, we have a chance of getting the ball back. He's probably the best person I've ever seen at punching out a ball of a receiver or anyone he's tackling. You see him do it in practice all the time. It's like every time he comes in and tackles he punches the ball out and gets on the guy, so it's always fun to see him.

Craig Steltz, safety: I'm excited to see Charles Tillman. He continues to get better. He never becomes stagnant. He continues to work on his craft every year. And he seems to punch the ball out in every practice, so we're excited to see balls on the ground and lots of takeaways.

Eric Weems, return man: I would have to say probably Tillman. Peanut. He's one of the big hitters on the team, he's a great athlete, he's a ball hawk, he knows how to force turnovers, he has a knack for the ball. And he knows how to make turnovers when they need 'em.

Patrick Mannelly, long snapper: Urlacher. Looking forward to seeing him get back on the field. The way he approaches the game. You know, during the season when he's healthy, he never misses practice. He's always prepared. He's always up for every game, seems like he never has a bad game. Just the consistent high level he plays at I think brings the entire team up to his ability level.

Henry Melton, defensive lineman: I want to see my buddy Urlacher come back. I want to see him play healthy and be healthy and come back and be a captain of the defense.

D.J. Moore, cornerback: Urlacher. Well, [bleep], I'm just hoping he comes back. If he's out there, everything goes smooth, so I'm just looking forward to seeing him out there. You learn how to prepare, watch film, stuff like that. He's on top of everything. Formations-I mean, everything. He can tell you what you need to do before you even know how to do it. Just trying to be on top of my stuff and also know what everybody else do so to help you play faster as well.

Tim Jennings, cornerback: I'm excited to see Kelvin Hayden, man, to see how he's going to fit in there, and to see how he helps the team win. I think he's a great player, and he's a playmaker, so we gonna try to see how we can get him on the field.. I know what he brings to the team, the type of player he is. He's a playmaker, he goes out there, he's a ball hawk, so I'm excited about it. I've been a Kelvin Hayden fan a long time, even in Indy when I came in a year behind him. I'm excited to see how that goes.

Lance Louis, offensive lineman: I mean, I play against Hen-Mel [Henry Melton] every day, and I'm just excited to see him play against other guys, because his game has got really better. And that's a testament to him working hard in the offseason.

Blake Costanzo, linebacker: My man Urlacher. Yeah, growing up, you know, "It's Brian Urlacher." Playing video games with him. He's a Hall of Famer. Shoot, man, just to have a locker beside him is unbelievable. Just to see the way he plays the game, and Lance [Briggs] too, man. Those two guys are just so good. In our meetings, we watch highlights of past years, and just to see some of the plays they've made. You know, they're both the best in the business. They come to practice every day, and they work on just the little things. They know the whole defense by now from playing in the system, but just working on all of the little things in practice: the right alignments, the right steps to take, the right reads. Just those little things that put them to be not just good players but great players.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Henry Melton, defensive lineman: I still like Devin [Hester]. Devin's my dude. I like to see him punt return, do all sorts of crazy things when he's back there. [Laughs.]

Craig Steltz, safety: Devin Hester. It's always fun to be out there blocking for him. He could break for a touchdown anytime he touches the ball.

Eric Weems, return man: Of course, the man himself! Number 23, Devin Hester. You know? I've studied him when we game-planned against him. I've seen him make exciting runs. Punt returns, kickoff returns. Just excited to see him up close in person and to be out there with him.

Robbie Gould, kicker: Blake Costanzo or Eric Weems. I think both of the new additions. Obviously it's going to be fun to watch them in their new roles and replace some of the guys we've had here before.

Tim Jennings, cornerback: Eric Weems, man! Everybody's excited about him. He brings a whole lot of different things to the special teams, and also offense when his number's called.

Lance Louis, offensive lineman: We brought in Weems, and Weems is a playmaker, man. I'm excited to see him in the regular season, catching passes and punts and kickoff returns and stuff like that. It should be fun.

Major Wright, safety: I would say Eric Weems. Being that he was on Atlanta, we watched him, played against him, and he created some nice down-the-field plays. I'm excited to see him.

Patrick Mannelly, long snapper: Blake Costanzo. That's easy. He's our new special teams stud, and I'm looking forward to watching him play.

Adam Podlesh, punter: I'm going to say Blake Costanzo, who we brought in this year. He's been with a few teams, but most recently he was with San Francisco. He was part of a very good punt coverage unit in San Francisco, and he brings a lot to the table. He's a very explosive guy. He doesn't take plays off. He busts his butt. He's very, very talented, and he's very strong, and for a guy of his stature he's quick. He's got a high motor. It's fun to watch him get pumped up in special teams play and take a lot of pride in it.

Kelvin Hayden, cornerback: Robbie Gould. It's just exciting to see him being consistent and knock down every field goal this year that he comes out to attempt.

Blake Costanzo, linebacker: My man Weems! I played against him for a bunch of years. Tough-ass dude. Fast. Physical. Him and Hester together back there, I don't know what teams are going to do. So just to watch either one of those guys, whether it be Weems covering or returning, or Devin, who I've played against, and he's the man.

ROOKIES

Robbie Gould, kicker: Alshon Jeffery. He's shown a lot in the preseason, he's done a great job catching the football, he's helped us a lot on special teams, and it's going to be fun to watch him mature over his rookie season.

Lance Louis, offensive line: I'm gonna go with Alshon [Jeffery]. He's a playmaker, you know? He's cool under pressure, and I feel like he just feels like he belongs, and that's a big thing for a rookie coming in. He's got all the tools and it's just about him using them in the right ways.

Patrick Mannelly, long snapper: Alshon Jeffery. He's a pretty impressive rookie. I haven't seen a rookie receiver come in and be as refined as he is, and all of his skills that I've seen, he's pretty impressive.

Adam Podlesh, punter: I am going to say Alshon Jeffery, just because, again, with having - having a young guy come in who's got a lot of good things on paper, he's obviously done a whole lot of great things in college, bringing it here, he's shown some decent promise. You can definitely tell throughout camp and OTAs that he's gotten a lot better. And he's ready to play in this league, and I think he's got a lot of talent, and he can be a major league impact player along with Brandon, to the offense.

Craig Steltz, safety: Alshon. I think he's going to come out and make some plays. He's got a great veteran to learn from in Brandon, and I think he's going to pick up a lot from him.

Eric Weems, return man: Alshon Jeffery. He's been making plays out on the practice field, and it's exciting to go out there and see how he does in his first NFL game.

Major Wright, safety: I gotta go with Alshon too. SEC! [Laughs.] He's been doing pretty good. He's been getting better. I think he's taking coaching and learning from his teammates. Brandon Marshall, Devin Hester. I think he's doing some good things.

Kelvin Hayden, cornerback: Shea McClellin. He's going to force the quarterback to get rid of the ball to disrupt him and make mistakes. It's only going to make us better in the secondary.

Tim Jennings, cornerback: Shea. We brought him in as a first-rounder, so he has expectations already so we'll see what he can live up to.

Henry Melton, defensive lineman: Hmmm rookie [pauses] I don't know. Who are our rookies? [Laughs.] Well, McClellin, Jeffery -Oh yeah, my boy! McClellin. He's been getting so many reps with the first team, so I forgot he was even a rookie. Yeah, I'm definitely excited to see what he can do. He's just an all-around good player. He plays the run well, good pass rusher, very low center of gravity. He stays low. Very quick. I definitely want to see what he does against the big tackles in the league.