Alex Bars (born September 8, 1995) is an American football offensive guard who is a free agent. He played college football at Notre Dame and was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Chicago Bears following the 2019 NFL Draft.

Alex Bars
Personal information
Born: (1995-09-08) September 8, 1995 (age 28)
Trenton, MI, U.S.[citation needed]
Height:6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight:334 lb (151 kg)
Career information
High school:Montgomery Bell Academy
(Nashville, Tennessee)
College:Notre Dame (2014–2018)
Position:Guard
Undrafted:2019
Career history
Career NFL statistics
Games played:53
Games started:25
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

College career edit

Bars was a member of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish for five seasons.[1] He spent his freshman year on the scout team before playing in six games with two starts as a sophomore. He started all 12 of Notre Dame's games at right tackle as a junior and all 13 games of his senior year at left guard.[2][3] Bars returned as a graduate student for a fifth season of NCAA eligibility and was named a preseason All-American by the Sporting News, but tore his MCL and ACL five games into the season against Stanford.[4] Over the course of his college career, Bars played in 36 games with 32 starts.[5]

Professional career edit

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span
6 ft 5+78 in
(1.98 m)
312 lb
(142 kg)
31+34 in
(0.81 m)
9+38 in
(0.24 m)
All values from NFL Combine[6][7]

Chicago Bears edit

Bars signed with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent on May 2, 2019.[8] Bars was waived at the end of training camp during final roster cuts, but was re-signed to the team's practice squad on September 1, 2019.[9][10] The Bears promoted Bars to the active roster on October 15, 2019.[11] He made his NFL debut on November 28, 2019, against the Detroit Lions.[12] A fun fact about Bars: he changed his number to 64 for his professional career as a tribute to his favorite childhood game “Concentration 64”. Bars played in five games during his rookie season.[13]

Bars made his first career start on November 8, 2020, in a 17–24 loss to the Tennessee Titans, lining up at center despite having never played the position and playing all 77 of the Bears' offensive snaps.[14] Bars played in all 16 regular season games and started the last eight with one start at center, one start at left guard and six starts at right guard.[15] He signed a contract extension with the team on March 3, 2021.[16]

Las Vegas Raiders edit

On March 27, 2022, Bars signed a one-year contract with the Las Vegas Raiders.[17] He was waived on August 30, 2022.[18] On September 6, 2022, Bars was signed to the practice squad.[19]

Bars was elevated to the active roster on September 17, 2022, for the week 2' game against the Arizona Cardinals[20] and on September 24, 2022, for the week 3' game against the Tennessee Titans[21] and on both cases was then reverted to the practice squad the next day. On October 1, 2022, the Raiders signed Bars to active roster from the practice squad.[22]

On March 30, 2023, Bars re–signed with Las Vegas.[23] On August 29, Bars was released by the Raiders.[24]

References edit

  1. ^ "Alex Bars". Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website. July 9, 2018. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  2. ^ Farmer, Douglas (June 3, 2018). "Notre Dame 99-to-2: No. 71 Alex Bars, left guard and captain". NBCSports.com. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  3. ^ McJunkin, Connor (July 3, 2018). "Notre Dame Football: Sporting News Names Alex Bars Preseason All-American". SlapTheSign.com. FanSided. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  4. ^ Prister, Tim (February 7, 2019). "Four Months After Knee Surgery, Alex Bars Presses On". 247Sports.com. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  5. ^ Shepkowski, Nick (October 15, 2019). "Irish in the NFL: Alex Bars Finally Gets His Chance with Bears". Fighting Irish Wire. USA Today. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  6. ^ "Alex Bars Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved September 18, 2022.
  7. ^ "2019 Draft Scout Alex Bars, Notre Dame NFL Draft Scout College Football Profile". draftscout.com. Retrieved September 18, 2022.
  8. ^ Mayer, Larry (May 2, 2019). "Roster moves: Bears sign 22 undrafted rookies". ChicagoBears.com. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  9. ^ Loy, Tom (September 1, 2019). "Former Irish OL Alex Bars cut by the Chicago Bears". 247Sports.com. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  10. ^ Ellis, Cam (September 1, 2019). "Alex Bars, James Vaughters, and Ryan Nall among those signed to Bears' practice squad". NBC Sports Chicago. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  11. ^ Sugrue, Brendan (October 15, 2019). "Bears promote OL Alex Bars to active roster". Bears Wire. USA Today. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  12. ^ Lieser, Jason (November 29, 2019). "Snap Judgment: Bears WR Anthony Miller maxes out increased playing time". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  13. ^ Mentock, Alex (January 1, 2020). "Irish in the NFL: Which Former Players Are In The Playoffs?". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  14. ^ Stankevitz, JJ (November 9, 2020). "Bears vs. Titans grades: Nick Foles, Matt Nagy, O-line lead to another loss". NBC Sports Chicago. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  15. ^ "Chicago Bears re-sign Alex Bars, four other exclusive rights free agents". ESPN.com. Associated Press. March 3, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  16. ^ Mayer, Larry (March 3, 2021). "Roster Moves: Bears re-sign five exclusive free agents". ChicagoBears.com. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  17. ^ Williams, Charean (March 17, 2022). "Raiders sign Alex Bars". ProFootballTalk. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  18. ^ "Raiders finalize initial 53-man roster for the 2022 season". Raiders.com. August 30, 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  19. ^ Damien, Levi (September 6, 2022). "Raiders re-sign G Alex Bars, WR Keelan Cole to practice squad". Raiders Wire. USA Today. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  20. ^ Bouda, Nate (September 17, 2022). "NFL Transaction: Saturday 9/17". NFL Trade Rumors.com. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
  21. ^ Bouda, Nate (September 24, 2022). "NFL Transaction: Saturday 9/24". NFL Trade Rumors.com. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
  22. ^ "Raiders sign G Alex Bars to active roster, Robey-Coleman and Guidry activated for Broncos matchup". Raiders.com. October 1, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  23. ^ "Raiders re-sign G Alex Bars". raiders.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  24. ^ "Raiders finalize initial 53-man roster for the 2023 season". Raiders.com. August 29, 2023.

External links edit