Ranking the Bears Needs

[WindyCity]

2019 Needs

1. CB
1. SS
3. K
4. TE
5. RB
6. OG
7. OLB
8. Speed WR
9. P

-Replacing or re-signing Amos and Callahan is obviously tied for priority #1. I have about equal trust in Bush and McManis so again I think the needs are tied.
-With Howard coming back I would say the #2 TE is a bigger need that RB for the 2019 season. Long term it may be RB, but for next season on the field we cannot have a game where Shaheen is waddling around and Braunecker is our passing threat.
-The Bears need a RB that is better than Cunningham and Mizzell for next season and a starter in 2020.
-Depth behind Long will always be a priority. I think Witzmann would suffice for 2019, but a draft pick to provide another option would be okay.

2020 Future Needs

1. CB
2. OG/C
3. ILB
4. DE
 
-This is simply based on players that the Bears could need to replace. Prince [8] and Long [8] are likely cap casualties. Trevathan, RRH, and Bullard are free agents and could all not be back. I expect Whitehair to be back, but he is also a free agent.

[dll2000]

47 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

2019 Needs

1. CB
1. SS
3. TE
4. RB
5. OG
6. OLB
7. Speed WR

-Replacing or re-signing Amos and Callahan is obviously tied for priority #1. I have about equal trust in Bush and McManis so again I think the needs are tied.
-With Howard coming back I would say the #2 TE is a bigger need that RB for the 2019 season. Long term it may be RB, but for next season on the field we cannot have a game where Shaheen is waddling around and Braunecker is our passing threat.
-The Bears need a RB that is better than Cunningham and Mizzell for next season and a starter in 2020.
-Depth behind Long will always be a priority. I think Witzmann would suffice for 2019, but a draft pick to provide another option would be okay.

2020 Future Needs

1. CB
2. OG/C
3. ILB
4. DE
 
-This is simply based on players that the Bears could need to replace. Prince [8] and Long [8] are likely cap casualties. Trevathan, RRH, and Bullard are free agents and could all not be back. I expect Whitehair to be back, but he is also a free agent.

I agree mostly.  I don't think SS is a strong need aside from depth of which there is zero.  I think Bush will surprise some people paired with Jackson.  He is well suited to play with this surrounding cast.  

We have 3 better than average or good corners which is more than most teams have.  We just don't know if one can play in the slot.  I say get your best 3 athletes out there and figure it out in Spring, maybe Summer rather than putting one good one bench as just back up.  I don't know what Pagano will do.   If we don't have a guy who can play inside then corner is a huge need.  Our front 7 which is as good or better than any in league as a group will paper over deficiencies.   

TE and Guard depth is huge because Shaheen and Long have not shown that they can stay healthy.  Our other TE didn't show in crunch time.  

Our running game was pretty bad last year overall, but looked really bad when Mizzell or Cunningham went in.  I still can't believe Mizzell went in game and had his number called on so many key downs late in the year.  So RB for future and depth is sorely needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sugashane]

1 hour ago, dll2000 said:

I agree mostly.  I don't think SS is a strong need aside from depth of which there is zero.  I think Bush will surprise some people paired with Jackson.  He is well suited to play with this surrounding cast.  

We have 3 better than average or good corners which is more than most teams have.  We just don't know if one can play in the slot.  I say get your best 3 athletes out there and figure it out in Spring, maybe Summer rather than putting one good one bench as just back up.  I don't know what Pagano will do.   If we don't have a guy who can play inside then corner is a huge need.  Our front 7 which is as good or better than any in league as a group will paper over deficiencies.   

TE and Guard depth is huge because Shaheen and Long have not shown that they can stay healthy.  Our other TE didn't show in crunch time.  

Our running game was pretty bad last year overall, but looked really bad when Mizzell or Cunningham went in.  I still can't believe Mizzell went in game and had his number called on so many key downs late in the year.  So RB for future and depth is sorely needed.

I don't have as much faith in Bush but assuming we miss on an obvious upgrade I am willing to walk into 2019 to let him fight for the starting role. 

 

Agree 100% about casting, and while Fuller has played at NB some in college I actually want Prince there. His physicality paired with our ridiculous passrush could help him all but eliminate slot WRs. Will put off that need one more year if we don't draft one. 

 

I always want to draft an OT every year, if they can play OT great, if not you have a plus athlete to move inside. Nagy needs to decide if we will be a true power running team and draft players that fit that scheme, because we have 2 guys that do right now starting, Daniels is young and still developing his man strength (so he is on his way IMO), but neither tackle does. 

[soulman]

I find it easier to spot potential needs than it is to prioritize them at this moment in time.

SS and Slot CB obviously top the list but without being able to better predict where negotiations with Amos and Callahan stand it's mostly just a guessing game.  Every time I think I might have Pace's ways figured out he'll end up doing something I didn't expect simply because I lacked enough info to see it coming beyond the typical media BS and scuttlebutt we get spoon fed every day.

And beyond the player issues are the contract and cash issues which again we have some information about but often not the whole picture and the same could be true of info posted on OTC and Spotrac.  In summary I'd say it's pretty accurate but is it 100% accurate and what cap accounting tricks may not be obvious to someone on the outside.  We simply can't know it all.

Pace has an almost maniacally aggressive bent to him at times that when he sees a player he wants above all else he'll do whatever it takes to get him. In some cases he's missed badly but when he wins he usually wins big, like with Mack and managing to keep Fuller without rancorous negotiations.  He let the Packers set the price and the terms for him then simply singed him to the deal the Packers had already negotiated for him.

At times I feel like I wanna yell at Pace for giving us so little to talk about.  There's a fair amount of dead air out there right now and filling it logically is getting tougher to do so we see a lot of illogical stuff seeping in that only works because Pace can pull off some surprises few expect.  That's what mocking ABrown to us is all about even when there's little or no logical sense to it.  It's not doable unless......and they use the Mack deal as a tease.

I'm not big on Mock Drafts of my own and it's very early to be looking at individual players but maybe not positions we may draft.  The fits my concept of priorities in a more realistic sense and then maybe we throw in Pace's habit of surprising us with his willingness to move around in the draft to pickup or shed picks still getting who he wants where he wants them and more recently he's been very good at it.

Erik Lambert did a mock showing some of that famed Pace aggressiveness I thought was actually quite good if it falls that way.  I'll post the link as well but to summarize it in a series of steps here it is. https://nflmocks.com/2019/02/21/chicago-bears-mock-draft-ryan-pace-stays-aggressive/

1) He swaps our 3rd rd pick and one of our 2020 2nds for Oaklands 2019 2nd/#35.  He then drafts the top RB on the board, Josh Jacobs.

2) In round 4 he takes a backup/rotation level pass rusher also out of Alabama (Christian Miller) to mix in with Irving and Fitts and possibly Acho or another lower level vet FA.  Unless......we sign Suggs.  But this pick could also be a TE or OL or DB.  BPA will rule here not position.

3) Having drafted a starting RB he trades Howard and his $2.1 mil contract to RB needy Buffalo for their 4th and drafts a tall scheme versatile SS from Colorado who has great ball skills but needs more development which he can get behind Bush assuming Amos is history.  If not and it's Callahan whose gone then maybe the best Slot CB on the board or again TE and OL still have needs.

4) In round 5 Pace does another one of his dips into small college ball and takes a 6'8"/240lb power forward who like Shaheen is as raw as sushi but for two seasons he's dominated at that level and he can catch very well.  Put another 20-25lbs on this kid and teach him how to beat press coverage and he could be scary or keep him light and use him as a utility TE/Slot WR/Red Zone Specialist first down and TD machine.  Or....he could be a huge bust.

5) In the 7th Pace goes all in on STeams and takes Utah PK Matt Gay and then takes Stanford P Jake Bailey.

Gotta say I like the move up for Jacobs.  If we want another bell cow RB he's the best of this years herd.  And I like taking a PK and P in round 7 if that's what we need to do in order to lock up the two best college prospects.   We could end up with a much better PK and P for far less money than we might spend on vets and we need to economize somewhere if we can.

The 4th and 5th rounds are still somewhat of a muddle until FA is over and we know who we still have and who we've added but beyond at least making a sincere attempt to keep our own I can't predict anymore than what has already happened and we new both Sims and Parkey were toast.  If we can keep one of the two (Amos or Callahan), draft Jacobs, and move on from Howard for a high 4th round pick that alone would look good to me.