Chicago Bears Draft Needs
By Editorial Staff
Top Needs: DE, S, WR, OL
It’s time to start the building process for the 2009 Chicago Bears. Jerry Angelo hasn’t exactly been a master builder in recent drafts, but whenever draft talk comes up, he seems to talk enough about floors and ceilings (of players) that you’d think he was a carpenter and not a GM. Since the Bears announced that they won’t be raising ticket prices in 2009, I don’t expect any big splashes in Free Agency, so the bulk of the work will have to come through the draft.
Defensive End
Almost every mock draft I’ve seen has the Bears taking a wide receiver in the first round. Receivers grab the headlines, but drafting offensive players hasn’t exactly been Jerry Angelo’s strong suit, so stick to what you do best and grab a stud Defensive End with the first round pick.
Adewale Ogunleye is entering the last year of his contract and appears to be heading out the door. On the other end, Alex Brown is solid and does a great job for spurts during the season. Mark Anderson hasn’t been able to regain his rookie form where he burst on the scene with 12 sacks and 2007 2nd round pick Dan Bazuin never panned out and had to be let go.
Since the Bears seem insistent on sticking with the Cover-2 defense, it’s imperative to get a pass rusher; not just an average player, but someone that other teams have to game-plan around. If you look at the Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, you’ll see that they played their share of Cover 2 in the Super Bowl and it made a noticeable difference when they were able to apply pressure. It’s not fair to compare the two teams directly since the Steelers employ a 3-4 defense, but when you look at James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley bringing pressure, you see that the scheme can actually work when you have the personnel to execute.