Bears Backed into Draft Corner

The pursuit of two linebackers and a guard in free agency leaves the Bears in need of quality defensive line help but now their route to finding it is reduced.

Bears GM Ryan Poles attended the Northwestern pro day Tuesday to get yet another good look at tackle Pete Skoronski and Adetomiwa Adebawore, probably an even better look at Adebawore.

The combine performance warrants it. So does what has transpired in NFL free agency to this point.

What transpired is the Bears have decided their draft will consist of a lot of very large people. One could be Skoronski or it could be Paris Johnson from Ohio State.

It better consist of an awful lot of defensive tackles and at least one good edge rusher because their efforts in this regard during free agency left those positions basically untouched. Justin Jones is still their best defensive lineman and who could have expected this?

There will be those who say just wait, Poles is working at his pace. The problem is, no one else was. They signed up the players who can make a different at those positions in a defense already, and anyone else they sign at defensive end, defensive tackle or offensive tackle with one exception would be lesser impact types. The exception would be Orlando Brown Jr. but it would appear he priced himself out of their range and they had the most money in the league, and he might not even fit what they want from a tackle. In fact, NFL Network reported Tuesday he  no longer even fits what the Chiefs want.

Pat Fitzgerald’s reaction to the #Bears trading the No. 1 overall pick: “Skoronski to the Bears! Let’s go!” pic.twitter.com/HmRj3gVOyY

— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) March 14, 2023

Free agency moves come off rapidly but on Day 2 it will slow down as the really desired targets are gone. 

So it's basically going to be the draft, a few free agent stragglers to help in some ways as role players and bringing back what few of their own free agents the Bears want back. Maybe David Montgomery?

Linebackers Need Help

Skoronski and Paris could be in the draft mix mainly because they are offensive tackles but Johnson seems a better fit as an actual tackle. The Bears now have too many guards after signing Tennessee Titans guard Nate Davis.

"We're always gonna look at pass rushers, we're gonna look at offensive lineman, corners," Poles said to start the offseason. "I always start with the premium positions to see, you know, are we good enough in those? And then move on from there."

The offensive line position signed wasn't a tackle. The pass rusher they signed will be with his fourth team in four years and never had more than 4 1/2 sacks until last year.

No cornerbacks in free agency, although signing one wasn't necessarily expected.

The Bears signed linebackers. They needed linebackers and got two very good ones in Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards.

Look at what happened to their defense last year and the collapse coincided with the loss of Roquan Smith. They ranked 16th on defense when Smith departed. They wound up 29th.

Not having that impact linebacker didn't help. It goes well beyond this, though.

The Bears didn't have a pass rush all year, even when Robert Quinn was on the roster. He had one sack for seven games. They continued not having a pass rush or even a good defensive front against the run.

As the season continued, their defensive backs had to come up and make more of the tackles and took a beating. Eventually, they lost at least every one one of their first five defensive backs for at least two weeks and some longer. The pass coverage collapsed, as well, and they wound up 18th against the pass after being fifth when they lost Smith.

So they obviously need defensive linemen of better quality in front of those new linebackers they signed.

The Bears have four picks in the first 64, but only one in the first 52. There's a huge gap from 9 to 52 and in that stretch they could easily lose the chance at every single one of the best edge rushers like Tyree Wilson or Alex Van Ness, or three techniques like Calijah Kancey or Adebawore, simply by thinking offensive lineman or even receiver first in the draft—although no one could realistically think they'd take a receiver at No. 9.

Trading Up in Round 2

It definitely sets up well for another trade with a couple of those picks they have in Round 2 or the first one in Round 3 involved so they can climb up and be in position to take defensive line help before the supply diminishes. They can get as high as 28th on the value chart with their picks in Round 2, and easily can get to the top of Round 3 by trading one second rounder and their top third-round pick of two.

Even later, in middle rounds and down into Day 3, the Bears will need to be focused on the defensive line over other positions. They're unlikely to find immediate quality starters there but they just need the numbers.

Currently they have one interior defensive lineman who can start in Justin Jones and no one under contract who can start at one technique, with no one of consequence backing them up.

At edge rusher they have Trevis Gipson and Dominique Robinson with newly acquired backup DeMarcus Walker, who basically is depth like they hoped for last year from Al-Quadin Muhammad and didn't get. They had 1 1/2 sacks and two quarterback hits all year from Robinson, a former wide receiver. Gipson had a slow start in a new scheme with three sacks.

There must be big help coming in numbers and in quality on the defensive line from somewhere, and it's too late to get anything significant in free agency.

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