Bear Digest

West could be where Bears find effective defensive tackle help

Indiana's defensive tackle from Chicago turns in outstanding times for a big man in the combine 40-yard dash after strong final season.
Gene Chamberlain|
Indiana defensive tackle CJ West reacts after going through defensive line drills at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Indiana defensive tackle CJ West reacts after going through defensive line drills at the NFL Scouting Combine. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

How much attention Indiana defensive lineman C.J. West will receive from the Chicago Bears in this draft is uncertain.

What is more clear is how much attention he has paid to the Monsters of the Midway, and one particular former Bears player. That would be Akiem Hicks.

"Of course, one of the guys that I watched a lot, and even, like someone when I first entered college, was Akiem Hicks," West said at the combine. "I was a big guy, you know, I'm a Chicago guy. So I watched a game, based kind of growing up."

Hicks played from 2016-21 for the Bears and was a key part of Vic Fangio's dominant defense in the 2018 run to a division title. The 6-foot-4, 335-pound defensive end in their 3-4 alignment overpowered blockers and terrorized quarterbacks especially during a three-year period from 2016-18, with 23 sacks and 38 tackles for loss.

West doesn't quite have the same playing style but had an impressive final season at Indiana, nonetheless, as a part of the Hoosiers' turnaround under coach Curt Cignetti.

With two sacks, eight tackles for loss and 40 total tackles last year after he transferred from Kent State, West projects as more of an A-gap defender in the Bears' scheme, or the nose like Andrew Billings. However, he showed speed at the combine that could convince some NFL team he can play 3-technique.

West ran an outstanding 4.96 and 4.95 seconds in two 40-yard dashes, this at 6-foot-1, 316 pounds.

He's predicted by Mock Draft Data Base as a fifth-round pick and really captured the attention of scouts with a dominant performance in the East-West Shrine Game.

West attribute his success to a technical aspect many defensive line coaches love to talk about but players rarely mention.

"I'm a very violent player, I'm very violent in my hands," West said. "So I feel like they know that really transforms at the next level.

"I got really quick hands, quick feet. So I think that'll, you know, do very well for me."

It wouldn't be difficult to see the Nazareth Academy (LaGrange Park) grad as a later-round addition in the draft for the Bears.

They figure to add offensive line help and edge rushers at some point early, and also look to be short of running backs and tight ends on their roster.

Zacch Pickens hasn't blossomed yet at defensive tackle going into Year 3 and more competition at backup defensive tackle would be an asset.

Then again, if an elite 3-technique defensive tackle fell into their laps it could go a different direction.

Pickens credits his mother's work ethic and his own persistence battling at a competitive high school as keys to helping him reach this point as a productive player who gets involved helping the community.

"As a person, a lot of people say that I'm a big teddy bear off the field, but when I get on field, I'm a monster," he said.

It sounds like a possible fit for the Monsters of the Midway.

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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.