Bears Mailbag – What’s Cooking With The 8th Pick?

This past Sunday, we witnessed one of the most interesting Super Bowls in NFL history. The Philadelphia Eagles, quarterbacked by backup Nick Foles, beat the defending champion New England Patriots in a track meet for their first ever Lombardi Trophy. All this while the GOAT, Tom Brady, delivered another record-breaking performance, throwing for 505 yards and three touchdowns to bring the Patriots back from 10+ points down multiple times and have New England in position to win in the fourth quarter.

Neither team played a lick of defense until late in the fourth quarter, when the Eagles got the one stop they desperately needed. Brandon Graham burst past the right guard and knocked the ball out of Brady’s hand; Derek Barnett recovered in Patriots territory, and the first real defensive play of the Super Bowl salted the game away.

But the biggest reason Philly won: Doug Pederson. In what may have been the greatest coaching performance in Super Bowl history, the aggressive Pederson watched all of his gambles pay off. From calling a tight end thrown touchdown pass to his quarterback on fourth-and-goal, to going for it on fourth down on his own side of the field, they needed every one of them to break in their favor to beat the Brady-led Patriots, and they did.

Pederson, who hails from the Andy Reid coaching tree, won the Super Bowl in his second season as Philly’s head coach. The Chicago Bears, who hired Matt Nagy (also from the Andy Reid coaching tree), are hoping he delivers similar magic soon in Chicago.

Now, with football season officially over, and after a week’s hiatus, we reach back into this week’s Bears Mailbag. Thank you to everyone who submitted questions.

Everyone talks about trading back in Round 1, which Pace has never done. However, in 3 drafts, Pace has traded up twice. Are there any players that likely won't fall to #8 you would want to see Pace trade up for?

— Drew McComber (@dmccomber86) February 8, 2018

I want to be careful about using the word “likely”. The reality is it’s way too soon to speculate because the new league year hasn’t started yet. Teams still have to decide whom they’ll re-sign/tag, and whom they’ll release. Then, free agency has to happen as does the scouting combine in Indianapolis and each school’s pro day. So there are going to be plenty of moving parts between now and draft weekend in late April.

Right now, the Bears are picking eighth overall. A big part of what will determine their pick is the likely run on quarterbacks at the top of the draft. Baker Mayfield, Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson are all likely to be first round picks. And there are plenty of teams in front of the Bears who may be going after a quarterback, pending free agency. The Browns, Giants, Broncos, and Jets could all be looking to take a QB before the Bears pick. Add to that teams after the Bears who could look to trade up (Miami, Arizona, and Buffalo), and Chicago could have a ton of options.

You’re correct in saying that the Bears have not traded down in the first round under Ryan Pace. They very well could if the draft doesn’t break the way they anticipated and they don’t value a player high enough where they’re picking but another team does and wants one. The only way I see that happening is if a highly rated QB is available where the Bears pick, though. I doubt they move up, but stranger things have happened.

Right now, the prospects I anticipate could be available at eighth overall that I’d be happy with (in no particular order): Roquan Smith, Tremaine Edmunds, Orlando Brown, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Josh Jackson. I don’t, unfortunately, believe Quenton Nelson or Bradley Chubb will be available there. But remember, this could all change.

Pace strongly believes in building through the draft and patching holes with FA. What Free Agents / positions (that aren't WRs) could the Bears target to make a real improvement somewhere?

— Drew McComber (@dmccomber86) February 8, 2018

Drew with the double dip! Thanks for participating.

Once again, I do want to caution that the list of currently projected free agents can and will change once the market opens up. Players will be released in the coming weeks as salary cap casualties, and many currently “available” players will be tagged in order to keep them with their current teams.

As a first order of business, I think it’s imperative that the Bears take care of their own free agents first. Kyle Fuller is the highest priority. I don’t think there’s any way the Bears can allow him to leave. Look for them to sign him to an extension, but if he doesn’t agree, the franchise tag is a big possibility here. I’d also look for the Bears to re-sign Cam Meredith (WR), Prince Amukamara (CB), Kendall Wright (WR), Dontrelle Inman (WR), and perhaps Mitch Unrein (DL depth).

Right now, I’m not going to speculate on which external players might be released from their current contracts or who might be tagged. My predictions for now are solely based on who is currently projected as available. Also, noted that we are ignoring WR because we know that’s a huge need and the Bears will be active in that market regardless.

That said, the biggest areas of need right now are EDGE rusher (dire) and CB (depth). With that said, here are some targets I’d love to see the Bears go after in some capacity:

EDGE:  Demarcus Lawrence, Kony Ealy, Aaron Lynch, Jeremiah Attaochu

CB:  David Amerson, Nickell Robey-Coleman, Bashaud Breeland

Other:  Trey Burton (TE), Sheldon Richardson (DL), Andrew Norwell (G), Jimmy Garoppolo (QB – just kidding)

I have a feeling there will be a big turnover on the offense. How many players will really be safe on the offense besides the ones drafted in the past 2 years?

— Rob (@Bertman41809) February 8, 2018

I won’t speculate on the full offense — I’ll just talk about the starters. So now that we’re talking just starters, the offense will probably suffer less turnover than we all expect. Here were last year’s starters (in some capacity):

QB – Mitch Trubisky

RB – Jordan Howard / Tarik Cohen

WR – Dontrelle Inman, Josh Bellamy, Kendall Wright, Markus Wheaton

TE – Dion Sims

OL – Charles Leno, Josh Sitton, Cody Whitehair, Kyle Long, Bobby Massie

Of these, Trubisky, Howard, Cohen, Leno, Whitehair, and Long are locks to be back and start. And Massie is more than probable to return as the starting right tackle. And I expect Sims to remain on the team, but Adam Shaheen to take over the starting job.

Many of the wide receivers are impending free agents, and Wheaton is a candidate to be cut. But I expect Inman and Wright to be re-signed, along with Cam Meredith, who missed the entire year with a torn ACL. Sitton is also a probable cut candidate.

Based on how poorly the offense did, I’m sure one would expect perhaps a few more heads on the chopping block. But the belief is this team as constructed could have done a lot more than they did, thanks to John Fox anchoring the offense. When certain upgrades come along (like at receiver), and the newer, modern offense is installed, expect a much better looking product.

Chances that Nagy’s offense can turn Kevin White into a serviceable receiver? Assuming White can stay healthy.

— Osborne Cox (@2SLIMMMMM) February 7, 2018

Kevin White is a very sad story. The kid had so much raw talent coming out of West Virginia, but missed his entire first year due to a stress fracture in his leg. He missed 13 games his second year due to another broken leg, and 14 games last year with a broken scapula. What once seemed to be a potentially promising career is now reduced to speculating about his ability to contribute at all.

There’s no chance that White is assured of a starting spot next season, though I don’t think he’s in any danger of being cut unless he fails spectacularly in camp. That said, I think the chances are great that White can contribute in Matt Nagy’s offense, if he stays healthy, of course.

They may not rely on White’s abilities as a receiver to win one-on-one matchups anymore, but you can expect that Nagy will leverage a ton of different plays to scheme White open so that he can gain yards after the catch, because he’s still expected to have solid football speed. I’m excited to see what White can do in Nagy’s offense, but I’m also excited to see him actually play.