BR0D1E86 wrote:clancyphile wrote:My big question: How much of the problems at defensive end were due to a lack of talent, and how much was injury/illness? Jared Allen was struggling with pneumonia this past season, and Lamarr Houston and Willie Young got hurt. Between Young and Allen, some rebounding can be expected from DE, and David Bass looks like a sharp young player (three sacks in limited playing time, after showing a couple of flashes in 2013). Christian Jones looks to be a free-agent steal at linebacker, and you can do worse than Jon Bostic.
You have to hope the DLine's problems were because of injuries and poor coaching. Jared Allen I think you can directly trace his lack of performance to the illness. He'll rebound somewhat next year. Houston was a valuable player before he came here, with some halfway decent coaching I think he's a piece. And Willie Young if he can come back and play a reasonable amount of next year is a good piece. You need some youth infused, especially at DT, but I don't think you can make the defensive line a priority this offseason. There are too many other holes and you can't fix them all in one season. You need to hope for a return to health for some guys.
Houston may be an option at DT. Not super-young, but the Bears did spend picks on Ego Ferguson and Will Sutton, and Paea's not super-old.
Between Christian Jones and Bostic I think you hope that you can make one starter out of them. That means you need two more starters at linebacker, and one of them needs to be a signal caller type. No idea who that will be though. I'm not up on the FA market.
Jones looks like he is a starter, and has shown a lot. Bostic's had his share of good games as well - and was second on the team in solo tackles.
Shea McClellin... I dunno. Do you give him another shot, especially since he was hurt, and seemed to flash some moments of brilliance during his time in Chicago? That three-sack game against the Packers in 2013 was one (he also notched 1.5 against the Pack in a game in 2012), there was that tackle for an 11-yard loss against the Vikings... plus his 4th quarter sack of Kapernick during the SF game... against Dallas, he had five tackles, one for a loss of five. He's involved in seven tackles against the Patriots (2 solo, 5 assists). He's worth a look in training camp.
I think that experiment is over. Cut him loose. He's not an NFL player. He was an odd pick at the time and has shown nothing to indicate that he's improving or making a positive impact on the field.[/quote]
Shea, like Bostic, has shown flashes during his time in Chicago. To me, the real question is, how much of his 2014 transition to SLB was derailed by a broken hand? For a player expected to make tackles, that's a bad injury to have. At this juncture, do you try one more year, with the understanding that if it doesn't work out, you can let him walk? With Houston and Willie Young coming off serious leg injuries, he may be useful as a pass-rush specialist for 2015, even if Bass is a better DE by far. When he was drafted, the guy who came to mind for me was Mark Anderson (remember him of the 12 sacks in 2006?), someone who'd let you move a Jared Allen or Julius Peppers inside to DT on passing situations.
That said, I think that the Bears need an infusion of young talent. Trading the #7 overall for Cleveland's two first-rounders (#12 and #19) would probably help in that regard. Getting a second-round pick for Cutler would be gravy as well.
If that trade is available I make it 10 times out of 10. If the Bears don't like any of the OT's enough to pick them at 7 I'd aggressively be looking for a trade down. You need to find two starting safeties, two starting linebackers, at least one new offensive lineman and a speedy wide receiver this offseason. It's a lot of positions you need to hit on. A couple will be through FA, and they don't all have to be superstars, but they must be legitimate starters. The more picks the better.[/quote]
I think Mundy and Conte aren't bad... but Conte's missing five games in 2014 is a worry. Mundy was not a bad safety, either. I'm more worried about cornerback. Jennings took a step back, and Tillman needs to make the same shift from cornerback to safety that Charles Woodson made.
I put top needs as:
Middle Linebacker (Shaq Thompson?)
Two Cornerbacks
Center (Garza's getting old)
Guard (Someone to bump Kyle Long to RT)
KR/PR/4th WR - Gee, we had that in Devin Hester... letting him go was NOT a good move
QB