Chicago Bears: Vic Fangio A Magician With Overlooked DBs

The Chicago Bears were criticized for not addressing the secondary sooner in the draft, but they had a specific reason not to and history says it’s a good one.

GMs in the NFL are always going to be second-guessed, regardless of what they do from year to year.  The reason being that fans of their teams are so diverse.  All of them have different ideas about what constitutes a winning roster.  The Bears, for example, have those who believe it was time for Ryan Pace to move on from Jay Cutler.  Others felt the veteran quarterback wasn’t the problem but a depleted offensive line.

This back and forth continued across the roster following the NFL draft, with several people denouncing Ryan Pace for waiting until the third day to finally address the secondary at the cornerback and safety positions.  Given the team finished among the worst in football at forcing turnovers, it’s been argued that those two areas needed to be shored up by the best possible talent.

Instead Pace chose to wait, focusing on the pass rush and the offensive line. Perhaps it was due in part to none of the best players being available in those areas at the time, but there is another reason why Pace chose to wait, aside from his own, personal convictions.

That would be defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.  As it turns out, the man has a long track record for turning late round or even undrafted defensive backs into capable starters.  Here are some prominent examples.

Brett Maxie

• UDFA, New Orleans Saints, 1985
• Played under Fangio for two seasons
• 137 tackles, 7 INTs (most in two-year span for career)

Chad Cota

• 7th round pick, Carolina Panthers, 1995
• Played under Fangio for three seasons
• 163 tackles, 7 INTs, 2 sacks

Demarcus Faggins

• 6th round pick, Houston Texans, 2002
• Played under Fangio for four seasons
• 113 tackles, 3 INTs (all came in one season, which was career high)

Tarell Brown

• 5th round pick, San Francisco 49ers, 2007
• Played under Fangio for three seasons
• 129 tackles, 6 INTs (career high four in 2011)

Dashon Goldson

• 4th round pick, San Francisco 49ers, 2007
• Played under Fangio for two seasons
• 2x Pro Bowler
• 126 tackles, 9 INTs, 2 forced fumbles

Perrish Cox

• 5th round pick, Denver Broncos, 2010
• Played under Fangio for one season
• 53 tackles, 5 INTs

It’s clear that most defensive backs who play for Fangio tend to put up the best numbers of their careers.  What also sticks out is how good he is at shuffling different players through without losing too much effectiveness on the back end.  A good example is him losing both his starting corners from 2013 in San Francisco and still managing to field a top 10 unit with two new corners that had never started before.

This more than anything explains why the Chicago Bears were willing to wait until Day 3 of the draft before addressing the secondary.  They felt they had a coordinator who could coach up such players.  After all, history shows that no position group in football is better at yielding Pro Bowl talents late than the defensive backfield. A perfect example is this past Pro Bowl.

• Richard Sherman (5th round)
• Desmond Trufant (1st round)
• Reshad Jones (5th round)
• Adam Jones (1st round)
• Malcolm Jenkins (1st round)
• Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (1st round)
• Harrison Smith (1st round)
• Marcus Peters (1st round)
• Vontae Davis (1st round)
• Brent Grimes (UDFA)
• Eric Berry (1st round)
• Jason Verrett (1st round)
• Mike Adams (UDFA)
• Charles Woodson (1st round)

As with any position it’s ruled by those in the 1st round but note the strong presence of both late round picks and undrafted free agents.  Part of this is because defensive backs are so different in terms of their styles and abilities.  A player who might fit one system in every way could be considered a square block in a round hole in another.  That is why Fangio has success.  He knows the kinds of players that fit what he wants and how to get the most from them.

It is for that reason that players like 4th round pick Deon Bush and 6th round pick DeAndre Houston-Carson should garner more attention and excitement than normal players of those same draft positions would.