CBS Sports columnist Pete Prisco has given the Chicago Bears a solid "A" in his 2018 Draft Grades. He's not the only one. The internet is abuzz with analysts praising the Bears' draft this year. Bears fans, on the other hand, seem less enthusiastic.
Maybe us jaded fans are just bitter from years of disappointment and bad decision-making at the highest levels of the Bears organization. Perhaps the analysts are just impressed that the Bears didn't metaphorically trip over their own feet on the way to the podium the way that they did last year with the dumbfounding decision to trade up one spot to draft Mitch Trubisky (a player that the team ahead of them, the 49ers, wasn't even planning on drafting), instead of taking the elite pass rusher that everyone thought they were trading up to get (and which the 49ers did take with that next pick). Was it the right move? Time will tell.
Well the Bears didn't impress anybody by picking up that desperately-needed pass rusher this year either. They had a chance in the second round to take Harold Landry, but instead took center James Daniels. Landry has had some injury issues in his college career, and consistently drafting injury-prone players has been one of Chicago's key failures in recent memory. Maybe Kevin White will finally play a full season this year? I'll settle for half a season.
The Bears drafted linebacker Roquan Smith from Georgia Tech 8th overall.
Top needs addressed and ignored
Despite not addressing their most pressing concern, the consensus among analysts seems to be that general manager Ryan Pace and newly-hired head coach Matt Nagy had one of the best drafts in the league (and one of the best drafts for the Bears in a long time). They picked up an inside linebacker, Roquon Smith, in the first round. He is expected to start immediately next to Danny Trevathan in Nagy's 3-4 defense, and should hopefully give former Georgia teammate Leonard Floyd more room to get pressure from the outside. The big question is: can Floyd or Trevathan stay healthy? Hopefully, Smith doesn't end up being the only linebacker left by the time December rolls around.
Many analysts were expecting (and I was hoping) that the Bears would take an interior lineman in the first round. Notre Dame guard Quenton Nelson was the top choice from analysts (and was my hope as well). The Bears need to keep young Trubisky upright and make room for Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen if they want to be successful. But Nelson went to the Colts sixth overall, and the Bears apparently didn't like him enough to trade up. The defense also needs improvement, and so the Bears were happy to take Smith at eighth overall.
Trubisky had one of the highest sacks-per-dropback ratios in the league in 2017.
They saved their offensive line needs for the second round when they took the aforementioned James Daniels. He played center in college, but will likely have to be converted to guard, since the Bears already have a center. Cody Whitehair had a pretty solid season, and I'd hate to see him moved out of a position that he was starting to get a good feel for.
A stable of receivers who will hopefully be stable
Perhaps the single biggest offensive need for the Bears is talent and stability at wide receiver. Even if the pocket holds for Trubisky, he won't be successful if his receivers aren't catching balls and making plays for him in the secondary. On the advice of team doctors, the Bears let former starter Cameron Meredith sign with the Saints. I never really saw Meredith as a true number one receiver (I felt he was more of a slot guy), but I was still disappointed that he wouldn't be a Bear moving forward.
The Bears did take a receiver as their third pick in the draft, but they had already partially addressed that position in free agency. One of the biggest moves in free agency this year was the Bears signing former Jaguar receiver Allen Robinson. Robinson will surely be slotted as the Bears' number one wideout going into 2018, and the number two receiver might be another free agency acquisition: Taylor Gabriel. The Bears signed Gabriel from the Falcons. Gabriel will be expected to stretch the field with his speed and make room underneath for Robinson.
The Bears might finally have a dangerous receiving corp -- if they can all stay healthy.
This is all assuming that these players can stay healthy. Robinson missed entire 2017 season after tearing his ACL in week 1. The Bears have had a receiving corp with a history of injuries going back for years now. Kevin White still has yet to play a full season. White could very well end up at third or fourth on the depth chart if the rookie Anthony Miller's offseason foot fracture has, indeed healed, and if he has a good camp.
This receiving corp looks to be dangerous. I mean that in multiple senses. If healthy, this corp (coupled with tight ends Tre Burton and Adam Sheehan and backfield pass threat Tarik Cohen) could do a lot of damage to defensive secondaries. Trubisky will definitely have a lot of options on where to go with the ball, as the Bears should have a solid pass-catching option at every level of the field. That's if everyone can stay healthy. This group can also be a huge liability to the team. Robinson, White, and Miller are all question marks where health is concerned, and there's no telling if they will actually be productive. An injury-depleted receiver corp would certainly be likely to tank any hopes that Trubisky has of being a sophomore superstar on par with Jered Goff's 2017 season.
I hope the Bears are more confident in their picks than I am
When the Bears finally did pick a potential edge rusher (Kylie Fitts in the sixth round), they got someone else who has a history of injuries. Their remaining picks were another linebacker (3 total), another receiver (2 total), and a defensive tackle.
Overall, I feel underwhelmed with the Bears' draft. Yes, they got some good players. The first three picks will likely be starting for the team in August. But I'm not sure if they are the players that the Bears really need. Again, this comes down to the same issue as the Mike Glennon / Mitch Trubisky issue from last year: are the Bears confident in their free agency pick-ups? If so, then why did they also draft two receivers. Allen Robinson is only 24 years old. It's not like he's a wily veteran come to fill a hole for a couple years while a younger guy develops. Gabriel is older, but still under 30. These guys could both become long-term staples of the Bears' offense. So why pick two receivers in the draft while other needs go unresolved?
Will Cody Whitehair move back to guard?
They picked an elite center, but they don't need a center. They need a guard. Will Daniels be as elite a guard as he is a center? Are Cody Whitehair's days as a center numbered? Whitehair is young too; the Bears drafted him in 2016. Do they really need another center on the roster? Maybe he'll do better as a guard (that was his college position, and the position the Bears drafted him to play). Don't forget that Eric Kush was also drafted to play center.
I guess none of these positions are quarterbacks. Teams generally have one quarterback. It's not like any of these receivers, linemen, and defenders were added to the team at the expense of the other players at that position, so this draft isn't the confusing debacle that last year's was. It still worries me that the Bears seem to have so little confidence in their most significant offseason moves that they felt compelled to draft additional depth at the one position that they addressed in free agency, rather than get help at other problem positions.
The defensive picks are good, but neither of them seems to solve the core issues of the Bears defense. If you ask me, the Bears needed an edge rusher and some help in the secondary. In this division full of elite passers (and maybe Kirk Cousins), the Bears should be less worried about stuffing the run, and more worried about eliminating the deep ball. As far as I've seen, the Bears haven't added a single player in the secondary. If your secondary can't cover the pass, then your next best bet is to take the quarterback down before he can throw. Maybe Roquan Smith will help with that, but an edge rusher (an outside linebacker or defensive end) would have been preferable.