I'm not breaking any news here, but yes, the Chicago Bears have signed a serious pass rusher in Jared Allen. Sure, Allen is a bit older than he was a couple years ago when he got 22 sacks, but he's still only 31 right now, 32 next month (and next season). He's a couple of years younger than Peppers is, and was much more productive last season. Not only that, but there are other major implications with this signing when put alongside other offseason signings. It has become absolutely clear where the Bears are going early in the draft. Of course from there, there are plenty of places they may go, but that's what the rest of this will be for, looking at where they stand now, and where they're probably going for the rest of the offseason.
It's almost like it's time for a complete reset here, so far this offseason, the Bears have resigned Matt Slauson, Roberto Garza, Jay Cutler, Charles Tillman, Kelvin Hayden, DJ Williams, Tim Jennings, Jeremiah Ratliff, Jordan Palmer, Joe Anderson, Austen Lane, Derricus Purdy, Taylor Boggs, Derrick Martin, Trevor Scott, Sherrick McManus, Craig Steltz and Nate Collins. Of those guys, the only ones that will probably actually mean anything are Slauson, Garza, Cutler, Tillman, Hayden, Williams, Jennings, Ratliff, Boggs, McManus, Steltz, and Collins. I like Joe Anderson, and he's been good in the preseason, but I just don't see him cracking the top 3 receivers (therefore not being a top 5 passing option). I also like Jordan Palmer, and I guess he may wind up meaning something, as Cutler has a bit of a history of injury, but he'll be, at best, the backup.
As for the guys who will be new to the team, the Bears have brought in Lemarr Houston, Ryan Mundy, MD Jennings, Jordan Senn, Willie Young, Domenik Hixon, Israel Idonije, Danny McCray, and now Jared Allen. There's 2 backup level safeties in Mundy and Jennings. McCray is probably there for special teams, as are Senn and Hixon. Houston, Young, and Allen are all huge additions to the defensive line. Idonije was also nice to bring back, as he's someone who is familiar with the defense and can still add depth as someone who can play on the end or go inside and play tackle.
Going into the draft, the main rotation for the Bears looks like this:
QB: Jay Cutler, Jordan Palmer
RB: Matt Forte, Michael Ford
FB: Tony Fiammetta
TE: Martellus Bennett, Zach Miller, Dante Rosario
WR: Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, Marquess Wilson, Domenik Hixon, Joe Anderson
T: Jermon Bushrod, Jordan Mills, James Brown
G: Matt Slauson, Kyle Long, James Brown, Roberto Garza
C: Roberto Garza, Taylor Boggs
S: Chris Conte, MD Jennings, Craig Steltz, Ryan Mundy
CB: Charles Tillman, Tim Jennings, Isaiah Frey, Sherrick McManus, Kelvin Hayden
LB: Lance Briggs, DJ Williams, Jon Bostic, Shea McClellin, Khaseem Greene, Jerry Franklin
DE: Jared Allen, Lemarr Houston, Willie Young, Israel Idonije, David Bass, Cornelius Washington
DT: Jeremiah Ratliff, Stephen Paea, Nate Collins, Israel Idonije
Going over all of this, at quarterback the Bears look good, although while I like Palmer, I wouldn't mind seeing more of a proven or more talented backup there, or at least some sort of good third option. At running back it's more of the same thing, a lot of people really like Ford, I'm not huge on him, but I don't think he's bad at all. At fullback they're fine, as Fiammetta did great last year, but fullbacks are a dime a dozen in the NFL anymore, mainly because teams don't bother with them until they need him. At tight end there's a huge drop off after Bennett, but Bennett is one of the better tight ends out there. The other guys can block, but aren't much as far as catching the ball goes. At WR the Bears are in good shape, as I honestly like all 5 of those guys I mentioned. Weems is probably gone, and in reality, while Hixon can come in as a 3rd WR in a pinch, he's there to compete with guys like Chris Williams to return kicks. Like I said above, I like Joe Anderson, although if he does make the team, I don't expect him to get too many chances. As for the offensive line, it's in good shape after the improvement shown last year, they're bringing back the same group, which is almost always a great thing. There could be a little more depth, especially at tackle, but one or two injuries won't hurt them too much.
On defense things are a little bit different. There still isn't any sort of serious threat at safety for the Bears. That's where the draft will come into play. However, what they have is a group of subpar guys there for the most part. Conte is almost totally useless, Steltz is decent, but not much more. Jennings and Mundy can play the run, but are nothing to talk much about against the pass. The Bears will need to address this in the draft. At corner the Bears have one of the best duos in the league back with a healthy Charles Tillman and Tim Jennings. However, both guys are getting older. It's questionable if Tillman will still be around after this next season, and Jennings is starting to get older as well. It will be interesting to see if they both can stay healthy and if they can mentor any incoming corners, as they guys behind them are not much more than nickel and backup type guys. At linebacker the Bears should be good for now, but Lance Briggs is getting older and DJ Williams' contract is only a one year deal. On the strong side they will either start Jon Bostic, who can gain valuable experience there, or they can go with McClellin if he has a strong camp. Still don't count out Greene or Franklin. Still, it's a unit that will need to be improved on in the near future. On the defensive line the Bears are in very good shape at the end, both with defending run and rushing the passer. Those first 3 defensive ends on that line will form a very strong rotation. On the inside they have more guys who are strong right now, and really Collins and Paea are pretty young guys and have had their moments. Ratliff and Idonije are both a bit older, but with Ratliff, you still may have a couple more good years, and with Idonije you get so much more than just what he does on the field as a leader. On the field he can still be a force against the run and can disrupt the passer with both rushing and with his length and overall size.
So, to cut down what has become rather lengthy, the bottom line is that the Bears are looking much better on defense than what they were last year, at least on paper. Of course injuries are a concern, so they want to make sure to have depth in those cases, but at the same time they can't act like what happened last year will happen again, as they only have 53 roster spots. At safety they're going to need to add more in the draft, that has to be the first priority. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix still has a solid shot of being available at 14 for the Bear (which is another great thing, even with what they have on that team, they have the #14 pick in the draft). If he's not there, Pryor should be there, and he's a potential stud safety as well. Other options could be cornerbacks Darqueze Dennard and Justin Gilbert. Either one of those guys learning from Charles Tillman could be scary. In the second round is where I think the Bears go after a safety in maybe Marcus Roberson. Keith McGill is another good possibility.
Third round is where it starts to get a bit questionable. If Garoppolo is somehow still there, I say still grab him, I think he can be an absolute stud in the NFL. However, if he's not, which he likely won't, then go after either a tackle or a linebacker, whichever best player is available. Guys like Ego Ferguson (DT), Anthony Johnson (DT), DaQuan Jones (DT), and Telvin Smith (LB) all may be available and have a chance to be very good players. If Ferguson is still there, that's the guy I'd like to see them take, assuming Garoppolo isn't there. In the fourth round is where I say they go with whatever they didn't get in the 3rd round. So if they got Garoppolo they go with the best between DT and LB. If they got, say, Ferguson, then they go LB, and if they got a LB, then they go for a DT. Of course, that's assuming there haven't been a huge rush on any of those positions that has rid the fourth round of any worthy players at that position. I'm going to say that Christian Kirksey would be a good pick. If Telvin Smith is still there, then by all means, go grab him over just about anyone. Jordan Zumwalt is another guy that would fit in well with the Bears, given his intensity (gotta say, that's entirely based on every scouting report I've read, didn't really see him play at all, but the more I read the more I like him).
Past that, in the fifth and later rounds, is where teams should go after guys with either good athletic numbers who played at small schools or are relatively inexperienced, or go after guys who played well for good programs, but don't have the athletic numbers that make most scouts think he can live up to his college production. In this case, in one of those rounds, I'd love to see them take a run at Larry Webster. I remember hearing a little bit about him during the season last year, but not much because he played at such a small school. However, his athletic numbers are off the charts, being a converted basketball player. He was very productive in college as a defensive end given his speed and height of 6'6". He could stand to gain some weight, but Emery does seem to love those athletic guys. An interesting thing is that he is also being thought of by some reports as a potential tight end. Anyway, moving on, I'd like to see them draft a small school offensive lineman with good size as well as either another defensive back (probably another from a smaller school who was good there), and maybe a tight end or defensive tackle. For the most part I'd like to see Emery go the athletic route in the later rounds, as the guys that usually fall out of the draft are the productive college guys not seen as especially athletic, the Vontaze Burfict types. I'd love to see the Bears grab Jordan Lynch from NIU as an undrafted free agent if he's still around. I think he would be a valuable weapon there.
As I mentioned in my last post, it's tough to pick the exact person Emery is looking to draft. However, in each of the last 2 drafts I knew exactly what position he was going to draft in the first two rounds, and I know a lot of other people did too. In 2012 everyone knew he was going to go with a pass rushing defensive lineman, and sure enough he picked Shea McClellin, not the guy anyone expected him to pick, but a pass rushing defensive end who is now moving to linebacker. McClellin has incredible athletic ability, which is why I'm optimistic that he can play well at linebacker, even if it didn't work out at DE. In the second round I thought they would be going after a wide receiver, as there was what was thought to be a strong group in that draft. However, I didn't expect him to pull off that trade to get Jeffery. In 2013, the first draft for Emery without Lovie's stamp of approval needed on all picks, Emery got...creative again in going with the athletic beast in Kyle Long in the first round, and this time it paid off big time. In the second round everyone knew the Bears would be looking at linebackers, and sure enough it was Bostic. I didn't expect them to go linebacker again with their 4th round pick (their next pick), but those first two round were ones where we knew what was going to happen. I had thought they would draft Arthur Brown in the second round myself. I had no idea who they were going with in the first, since the best offensive linemen all seemed to be taken at that point. Really, pretty much everyone knew what position Emery was going with in both of those drafts, they just were shocked at who wound up being those picks. I have a feeling the first round will be a little more predictable this year, as it will be between two guys who are just too good to pass up on at a position the Bears are just too desperate to fill.
Anyway, with all of that fun draft stuff out of the way, I'm going to start to wind this down. The Bears defense is not far at all from being a very good defense again. All they really need is less horrible luck really. They have a DT rotation with 4 good players. They have an incredible rotation for their top 3 defensive ends as well. If they stay relatively healthy and make the right draft choices, then they will be very solid everywhere across the board on both sides of the ball. The only are that will lack the depth to deal with an injury or two will be safety, although, as long as it wouldn't be their first round safety choice (assuming that's where they pick), it's not like it would hurt the team too much. Sure, there could be more depth, but the Bears do look like they're in very good shape heading into the draft.
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