By John Mesh
According to Blue Dragon Sports social media sites, the Chicago Bears signed former Blue Dragon defensive back Ro Torrence, the Jayhawk Conference Defensive Player of the Year and NJCAA Defensive Player of the Year in 2021.
Torrence, a 6-foot-3, 208-pound undrafted free agent, was waived the Seattle Seahawks on June 24.
“He’s a massive cornerback with insane length,” said Windy City Gridiron lead football analyst Jacob Infante. “He’s physical in press along the boundary and maintains good body control jamming near the line of scrimmage.”
The Bears made a couple of roster moves after opening up their preseason schedule by playing the Houston Texans in the Hall of Fame Game.
Long-snapper Cameron Lyons was waived to open up a spot on the 90-player roster for Torrence. Lyons had three snaps in the game against the Texans on Thursday night.
Longtime Bears’ long-snapper Patrick Scales now is the only player at that position on the roster.
Torrence joins a crowded secondary situation in Chicago. Jaylon Jones, Terell Smith, Greg Stroman, Josh Blackwell and Leon Jones are currently in the backup roles outside and in the slot behind starters Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson and Kyler Gordon.
Torrence played 21 games at Arizona State the last two seasons. He had 73 tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions and a forced fumble while playing for the Sun Devils.
Torrence played two seasons for the HutchCC Blue Dragons. He allowed only one player to catch a pass against him in the regular season and made 28 total tackles and broke up six passes.
Torrence’s lone interception came in the NJCAA title game during the spring of 2021, won by the Blue Dragons.