Bears position breakdown: The specialists

12th in a position-by-position series of training-camp capsules on every player on the Bears’ 90-man roster. The Bears open training camp on Friday at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais.

16

PAT O’DONNELL

Punter Fifth year

6-4, 217 Miami (Fla.)

Acquired: Sixth-round draft pick (191st overall) in 2014.

Age: 27

NFL experience: Has punted in 63-of-64 games in four seasons with the Bears.

Background: O’Donnell has been a consistent, though hardly spectacular punter in his four seasons with the Bears. He ranked 28th (43.8), 24th (44.2) and 24th (44.0) in raw average his first three years, but jumped to ninth (47.0) last season. His net, though remained steady — 27th (37.7), 19th (39.7), 28th (38.4) and 24th (39.7) in his four seasons. He was 19th in the NFL in punts inside the 20 last season (27 out of 87).

Notable: O’Donnell led all punters with a perfect 158.3 passer rating last season. He threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Benny Cunningham on a fake punt against the Vikings.

The skinny: Last year the Bears did not bring in any competition for O’Donnell. This year he’ll be challenged by rookie free agent Ryan Winslow. O’Donnell still figures to win the job, but the message has been sent that the Bears are looking for more.

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1

CODY PARKEY

Place kicker Fifth season

6-0, 190 Auburn

Acquired: Signed a four-year, $15 million contract ($9 million guaranteed) as a free agent in 2018

Age: 26

NFL Experience: 49 games in four seasons.

Background: Parkey made the Pro Bowl as a rookie with the Eagles when he hit 32-of-36 (88.9 percent) of his field-goal attempts, with a long of 54. He missed most of the 2015 season with an injury and signed with the Browns in 2016 (20-of-25, 80.0 percent). He was cut in 2017 and signed with the Dolphins. He made 21-of-23 field-goal attempts (91.3 percent), including 7-of-9 from 40-plus with a long of 54.

Notable: Parkey has hit 6-of-7 field goal attempts (85.7 percent) from 50-plus yards in his NFL career. He hit tying or winning field goals of 54, 49, 36 and 39 yards in the fourth quarter and final minute last season. Of his 67 kickoffs last year, 28 were touchbacks (41.8 percent).

The skinny: Parkey is the Bears’ latest roll-of-the-dice since cutting Robbie Gould in 2016, and not a cheap one. He has a history of accuracy, distance and clutch kicking. But playing home games at Soldier Field, all bets are off.

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2

RYAN WINSLOW

Punter First year

6-5, 217 Pittsburgh

Acquired: Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2018.

Age: 24

NFL experience: None.

Background: The Philly native punted all four seasons at Pitt, averaging 40.1, 41.1, 42.6 and 44.5 yards per punt each season. Was a first-team all-ACC selection as a senior in 2017, when he led the league in punting average and put 16 of his 57 punts (28.1 percent) inside the 20-yard line. Also was Pitt’s holder the past four seasons. Two-time all-ACC Academic Team selection. Winslow threw a 15-yard touchdown pass off a fake against Virginia Tech in 2017.

Notable: Winslow was one of seven punters invited to the NFL scouting combine. He was ranked sixth among draft-eligible punters by ESPN’s Mel Kiper. Winslow’s father, George Winslow, punted for the Browns in 1987 and the Saints in 1989.

The skinny: Winslow was a consistent, effective but not overwhelming punter at Pitt, so he faces an uphill battle to unseat veteran Pat O’Donnell. But he’s not just a camp leg or token competition. There’s a job to won here.

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48

PATRICK SCALES

Long snapper Fourth season

6-4, 239 Utah State

Acquired: Signed as a free agent in Week 12 of the 2015 season.

Age: 30

NFL experience: 23 games in three seasons with the Ravens and Bears.

Background: Signed by the Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2011, Scales was cut by five teams before he made his NFL debut in 2014 after re-signing with Baltimore. He was cut by the Ravens (2011), Ravens (2012), Dolphins (2013), Jets (2013), Buccaneers (2014) and the Ravens again (2015) before signing with the Bears. Scales was the Bears’ long-snapper without incident in 2016, but suffered a torn ACL in the preseason in 2017 and was waived. He signed a one-year, $630,000 contract in the offseason.

Notable: Scales is the only long-snapper on the training camp roster. Andrew DePaola, the Bears’ long-snapper in place of Scales last season, signed a four-year, $4.27 million contract ($875,000 guaranteed) with the Raiders.

The Skinny: As much as any position in football, the long-snapper is not a problem until he is a problem. As long as Cody Parkey and Pat O’Donnell are comfortable with him and he doesn’t screw up, Scales will be just fine.

Want your Bears training camp update without delay? Each day of summer practice, Sun-Times Bears’ beat writers Patrick Finley, Adam Jahns and Mark Potash will share exclusive insights on the workout and interviews in a livestream conversation 1 p.m. daily through August 12. Catch their live analysis and ask questions on Twitter: @suntimes_sports or follow Sun-Times Sports on Periscope to be notified of each live report.