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Forecast: Bears Will Stay Defensive-Minded

A way-to-early mock draft by Pro Football Focus indicates the Bears will not be good enough for the playoffs but also that they'll have a rough contract negotiation.
Gene Chamberlain|
Forecast: Bears Will Stay Defensive-Minded
Forecast: Bears Will Stay Defensive-Minded

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Chicago Bears

The staff at Pro Football Focus is trying to tell you something about the Bears for 2023.

They won't be as bad as last year. But they're apparently going to have some roster turnover due to another poor contract negotiation.

As if everyone isn't already drafted out after last weekend, PFF conducted a "way-to-early" mock draft and in it they had the Bears selecting 14th, meaning 13 teams will have worse records.

It doesn't mean playoffs for this year, but at least they're projecting something better in Chicago than the misery of 2022. Apparently Justin Fields will do enough to keep the quarterback job in their view because they had quarterback Caleb Williams going first to Arizona, then the Cardinals also got Marvin Harrison Jr. with the second pick. 

Beyond that, they have the Bears getting an edge rusher with the pick at No. 14. It's Alabama edge rusher Dallas Turner. 

Calling Turner a player who has been overshadowed by Will Anderson Jr., PFF's Max Chadwick points out the Crimson Tide edge has 14 career sacks, tied for second most among all the Power Five conference edge rushers. Turner was 6-foot-4, 242 pounds last season and no doubt would add weight by the time the draft rolls around.

It was Ryan Poles himself who was asked specifically about the lack of a defensive end in this draft for the Bears and he said there's always a draft "...next year, and we've set ourselves up nicely for that, too."

If you'll remember, the Bears have two first-round picks next year because they acquired Carolina's No. 1 in the trade back to No. 9. PFF projected that would be the 15th pick, so the Bears had back-to-back picks in their mock draft.

The pick was Kalen King of Penn State, a cornerback who was actually one of the best in coverage this past season but is still in college for 2023.

PFF said he had the highest PFF grade among all cornerbacks in the country last year and allowed only an 18.3 passer rating when targeted and in single coverage.

This seems like a real head-scratcher for a pick because the Bears:

  1. Just drafted two cornerbacks this year in Tyrique Stevenson and Terell Smith.
  2.  They have three starting cornerbacks in their nickel package who were second-round picks and all are still on their first contracts.

However, it's not so far-fetched. Poles said during the draft he wants to try to keep cornerback Jaylon Johnson, whose contract expires after this season.

From that standpoint, King might be a good player for the Bears to draft because Poles said he wanted to sign Roquan Smith and David Montgomery and both are with other teams.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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