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Chicago Bears Mailbag: Replacing Adrian Amos and much more

By Erik Lambert

CHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 28: Charone Peake #17 of the New York Jets runs with the football against Adrian Amos #38 of the Chicago Bears in the fourth quarter at Soldier Field on October 28, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 28: Charone Peake #17 of the New York Jets runs with the football against Adrian Amos #38 of the Chicago Bears in the fourth quarter at Soldier Field on October 28, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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KANSAS CITY, MO – JANUARY 6:Running back Kareem Hunt #27 of the Kansas City Chiefs runs through a huge hole during the first quarter of the AFC Wild Card playoff game against the Tennessee Titans at Arrowhead Stadium on January 6, 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO – JANUARY 6:Running back Kareem Hunt #27 of the Kansas City Chiefs runs through a huge hole during the first quarter of the AFC Wild Card playoff game against the Tennessee Titans at Arrowhead Stadium on January 6, 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /

The Chicago Bears mailbag for this week is firmly entrenched in finding the key positions on the roster that can possibly be upgraded.

Everybody with a lick of common sense can see the reality at this point. The Bears are a good football team again. They went 12-4 in 2018 and were a missed field goal away from knocking off the defending Super Bowl champions in the wild card round. They could be one or two more moves away from becoming a genuine favorite to reach the big game themselves. It’s a matter of how they can do that.

Here are the questions you all needed answered, starting with the ongoing debate raging around the running back position.

I’m a big fan of Howard and believe he’s the heart of that offense in many ways. When he goes, they go. That said, I also know he’s a back with limitations. He doesn’t have the explosiveness to thrive on limited touches. He’s a volume-type. The more he gets the ball, the more effective he becomes as a game progresses. That is good in some offenses, but not Matt Nagy’s.

A West Coast-style offense spreads the ball around. It’s designed to keep defenses guessing and get everybody involved. Combined with his obvious lack of feel outside a zone blocking scheme, there were obvious drawbacks exposed in Howard last season. Overall I’d grade him C+ for the year thanks to his strong surge down the stretch.

It’s been well-established that the Bears are at least open to the idea of Hunt. If they weren’t, they would have flatly denied any interest from the start. A few things I think they’re waiting on:

  1. They want to see how much effort he puts into making amends for his mistakes.
  2. They want to see how long the NFL plans to suspend him for.

If Hunt isn’t putting in the time to correct his obvious problematic behaviors or could be suspended for eight or more games? Odds are they’ll let somebody else sign him and seek out options elsewhere. On the other hand, if he puts in the effort and it’s only 4-6 games? There is a strong chance they trust their locker room stability enough to handle PR backlash.

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