The 2013 NFL Draft is in the books and it is time to analyze what the Chicago Bears did in an effort to return to the playoffs for the first time since losing to the dreaded Packers in the NFC Championship game in January 2011. The Bears had a lot of needs heading into the 2013 NFL Draft. The defense is aging considerably and replacements for Peanut Tillman, Lance Briggs and Julius Peppers are going to have to be found soon as they are nearing the ends of their careers. That left DL, LB and DB as areas of need. In addition, the loss of Nick Roach and Brian Urlacher also increases need for LB because the 2 FA signings were only brought in on 1 year deals. The offensive line has been atrocious the last several seasons. While the FA signings help, it is still not enough to turn this collection of trash into the second coming of Hilgenberg, Thayer, Bortz, Van Horne and Covert. Bushrod is a Pro Bowl caliber OT but the other 4 spots on the line are up for grabs. Roberto Garza is in the same boat as Briggs, Peppers and Tillman and a replacement is going to have to be found soon for him. Quarterback is another area of need for the Bears. Jay Cutler is in the final year of his contract and has not been the franchise QB that the Bears hoped he would be when they traded Kyle Orton, two 1st rounders and a 3rd to the Broncos to acquire him. A lot of the blame can be placed on the OL and bad coaching but Cutler has to take a big load of the blame himself for poor decisions and holding on to the ball too long. So to sum up, the needs heading in to the draft were 4 OL, 2 LB, 1 CB, 1 or 2 S would be nice, 1 QB, 1 or 2 DL would be nice and another TE. Did we mention that they only had 5 picks to get all these players needed?
Chicago Bears (10-6 last season)
Key Free Agent Additions: Key Losses:
TE – Martellus Bennett LB – Brian Urlacher
OT – Jermon Bushrod LB – Nick Roach
LB – DJ Williams TE – Kellen Davis
LB – James Anderson TE – Matt Spaeth
OG – Matt Slauson DT – Matt Toeaina
OL – Eben Britton
Draft Picks:
1st Round – 20th overall pick – OG Kyle Long (Oregon)
The Bears picked the son of HOFer Howie Long with their first pick. This was very surprising for many reasons. Long has had quite a tumultuous life so far. He was drafted by the White Sox before deciding to do football full time. He bounced around a couple of schools before ending up at Oregon. He has spent time in drug rehab and he has only started 4 games in his college career. The NFL website had him graded as a 77 which means a 2nd to 3rd rounder with the potential to eventually start. The Bears are talking like he is going to come right in and start. That speaks volumes as to how bad the CURRENT linemen are on the team. The Bears left A LOT of talented guys at other need positions on the board to take this pick. Many experts think that Long would have still been available when the Bears picked again at 50. TE Tyler Eifert, CB Desmond Trufant, DT Shariff Floyd, LB Alec Ogletree, QB Geno Smith, LB Kevin Minter and TE Zach Ertz were all available and I think would have been able to make a quicker bigger impact on the Bears this season than Long will. Not only that, I believe that Larry Warford who went to the Lions in the 3rd round (65) and Barrett Jones who went to Rams in 4th round (113) will have better pro careers than Long.
2nd Round – 50th overall pick – LB Jon Bostic (Florida)
I am an SEC guy. The SEC has dominated college football for the last decade. They get the biggest, fastest and most talented players in the country on a routine basis. That means the players are going against the best “amateurs” that football has to offer on a weekly basis. NFL teams agree with based on the fact that 63 SEC players were drafted this year. NFL.com has Bostic graded as a 62.2 which means they think he is a 4th – 7th round pick that may be able to contribute. I think he is a little bit better than that. He was the 3rd fastest LB according to the 40 yard dash and 3 cone drills. I don’t think he’ll be able to produce at the rate of Lance Briggs but I think he is definitely capable of being a replacement for Nick Roach. I’m not as disappointed in this selection as I was with Long because LB is such a need position and I liked what I saw of Bostic on Saturdays in the SEC. I just wish they would have drafted Ogletree or better yet that Jarvis Jones had slid 3 more slots to them. Jarvis is going to be a beast for the Steelers if he can stay healthy.
4th round – 117th overall pick – LB Khaseem Greene (Rutgers)
Greene started his college career at safety before becoming a linebacker after his sophomore season. He made an immediate impact at linebacker and was rising up draft charts until he broke his ankle in the Pinstripe Bowl after his junior season. NFL.com had him graded as a 78.8 which is much better than Bostic but concerns over the broken ankle dropped him on teams boards even though he played without incident his senior season and remained productive. I’m not sure if he can replace Urlacher but Urlacher was a safety in college as well. The Bears will hope that isn’t all he has in common with Urlacher once his career is over.
5th Round – 163rd overall pick – OT Jordan Mills (Louisiana Tech)
At 6’5 316 lbs, Mills definitely has the size to play in the NFL. The Bears have been playing 7th round pick JaMarcus Webb as a starter at OT in the last couple of seasons so there is no reason why another small school late round pick couldn’t see playing time with the team. Sometimes you need quantity and hope that it turns into quality over time. I don’t expect Mills to step right in and start but he could make the team as a backup and give some much needed depth to a revamped OL. NFL.com graded him as a 67.0 and said he could be a top 100 pick so the Bears got a little bit of value out of this pick.
6th Round – 188th overall pick – DE Cornelius Washington (Georgia)
Washington played OLB for the Bulldogs but I’ve read that the Bears think of him as a DE. NFL.com grades him at 69.4 and he shouldn’t be intimidated by the leap to the NFL after playing in the SEC. His biggest strength is his extreme quickness. Out of LBs and DL, he had the 2nd fastest 40 yard dash and he was the 4th best of bench press rep out of DL and LBs. If he can use that speed and strength to get the QB with any kind of consistency, he will be the steal of this draft for the Bears. Hopefully he can develop a move or two to use when his strength or speed isn’t enough to beat the OT. Maybe he can have the same kind of impact that Mark Anderson had as a rookie for the Bears years ago but develop a better all around game in the process.
7th round – 236th overall pick – WR Marquess Wilson (Washington State)
This is the kid that got suspended from the team this past season for walking out of practice and then going public with complaints that new head coach Mike Leach was mean and demanding in practice. Boo freaking hoo kid. If he couldn’t survive a college practice, I don’t see much hope for him in the NFL. He had 83 catches for 1388 yards and 12 TDs as a sophomore. At 6’3, he is a large target for Cutler to throw too…however, the Bears already have Alshon Jeffrey and Brandon Marshall as tall wide receivers. I don’t think Wilson will make the team unless he can contribute a lot on special teams.
Overall, I give the Bears a C+ with this draft. I think they added depth in areas of need at LB and OL and I think that Washington could help Julius Peppers not be double or triple teamed on every pass play by using his speed and strength to wreak havoc from the other side. I really like the potential of Greene and I think that Bostic can be a solid contributor. However, I think the Bears left a lot of talented players on the board in the 1st round that could have made an immediate impact this season while Kyle Long is a project in my opinion. The Bears are in WIN NOW mode with all the players they have on one year deals and the age of the defense. This draft while potentially good in two or three seasons doesn’t give them the immediate help they need to get to the Super Bowl this season.
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