By Brad Biggs
Defensive end Julius Peppers is the big prize the Bears will be aiming for in free agency and if they can't land him, expect them to be involved in discussions to sign Aaron Kampman.
The Bears need help at defensive end, and the playing-time statistics from last season bear that out in a big way. They simply don't have the depth required right now, and they're looking for a significant upgrade to their slumping pass rush.
Defensive end Julius Peppers is the big prize the Bears will be aiming for in free agency and if they can't land him, expect them to be involved in discussions to sign Aaron Kampman.
The Bears need help at defensive end, and the playing-time statistics from last season bear that out in a big way. They simply don't have the depth required right now, and they're looking for a significant upgrade to their slumping pass rush.
Here is a look at how the playing time was divided at defensive end
last season, according to statistics obtained by the Tribune (out of a
total of 1,068 defensive snaps):
*Alex Brown: 756 snaps (70.8 percent)
*Adewale Ogunleye: 712 snaps (66.7 percent)
*Mark Anderson: 521 snaps (48.8 percent)
*Gaines Adams: 112 snaps (10.5 percent)
*Jarron Gilbert: 35 snaps (3.3 percent)
Adams' tragic death created a hole for the defense. Ogunleye will be an unrestricted free agent and is not expected to return unless the Bears reach at least Plan C. Anderson is a restricted free agent and, as the Tribune earlier reported, he will be tendered at the second-round level.
Gilbert was used sparingly at left end and he and fellow 2009 draft pick Henry Melton may be moved inside to tackle this coming season. Anderson's best work has come when he has been a situational pass rusher. The Bears were pleased with the progress he showed in the second half of the season, but it would be a stretch to put him at the top.
It all adds up to the club's top need in free agency being a defensive end. The NFL's shopping season opens in a little more than 60 hours.
*Alex Brown: 756 snaps (70.8 percent)
*Adewale Ogunleye: 712 snaps (66.7 percent)
*Mark Anderson: 521 snaps (48.8 percent)
*Gaines Adams: 112 snaps (10.5 percent)
*Jarron Gilbert: 35 snaps (3.3 percent)
Adams' tragic death created a hole for the defense. Ogunleye will be an unrestricted free agent and is not expected to return unless the Bears reach at least Plan C. Anderson is a restricted free agent and, as the Tribune earlier reported, he will be tendered at the second-round level.
Gilbert was used sparingly at left end and he and fellow 2009 draft pick Henry Melton may be moved inside to tackle this coming season. Anderson's best work has come when he has been a situational pass rusher. The Bears were pleased with the progress he showed in the second half of the season, but it would be a stretch to put him at the top.
It all adds up to the club's top need in free agency being a defensive end. The NFL's shopping season opens in a little more than 60 hours.
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Having an average LG means having the same problems as last year. And relying on the third round draft pick to solve it hardly guarantees that it gets fixed.
Can anyone say who is a big name L.G in the free agent market tell me who's out there that the bears should get before you go after peppers or anyone for the d-fence or the o-fence.
I would still call defensive line our biggest area of need. Our best player on the line is Alex Brown, who has never gone above 8 sacks, and he only got to 8 because he abused the Giants for multiple sacks in a single game. Alex is an every-other-game sack guy, who keeps working hard, but never quite gets there.
For this defense to work, the pressure has to come from the front 4. The reason we are exposed so badly on the edges by screens and outside runs is that we have to play the mug-up front, and put Briggs and Urlacher in the middle of the soup, which slows their inside out pursuit. With a guy like Peppers, or Kampmann for that matter, we have a legit double-digit sack guy on the edge that will command attention, so if we do blitz, we only have to bring one to have more than they can block with their line, and we stand a very good chance of winning at least one of the individual matchups. If we can get sacks with 4 guys, then the big plays disappear, and the offense of the other team is going 3 and out a lot of the time.
Guard is important, but having an average LG is not as bad as going into the season with the same defensive line we have now. You can find interior offensive linemen that can play in the 3rd and 4th round. It's a lot harder to find double-digit sack guys in the same rounds.
Guard is a area of need and I would say a priority
but it is one that can be solved with a 3rd pick the will
be quality talent at the guard postion in that area
I disagree with DE being the biggest need. This may not sound very sexy... but I would argue that LG is the biggest need.
First... the need:
Last year, I know what I read in the box scores, but I also know what I saw on the field. Forte's ypc was lousy, and there were games where he got less than 10 carries. Cutler had a league high in picks. But the offense got pretty predictable with false starts and an offensive line so bad at run blocking it had to throw in a condensed red zone routinely (leading to a lot of red zone picks). Cutler got whipped by turnstyles at OT including Orlando Pace and Forte just had no chance.
Second... why LG:
In our recent offensive "bumper crop" years (2001, 2004, 2005), we had a big boost in the OL from the promotion of Rex Tucker at LG or the acquisition of Rueben Brown at LG. These guys not only shored down their own position, but they enabled Kreutz to do what he does best... pulling and knocking LBs on their butts.
This year, is different... a truly dominant LG can change FOUR positions on the OL. In addition to LG and C... it can improve both tackle positions. With a green Chris Williams at LT, a guy like Logan Mankins or Jahri Evans could give him a ton of support. And at RT, Mike Tice won't have to split Omiyale's time at both LG and RT making a jack of all trades master of none, and instead can focus on developing him at his natural position: right tackle, where he can compete with Schaffer and make whoever the victor is in that battle better for it.
The OL was the weakest unit on the team... and if that whole unit can be improved practically from tackle to tackle with one acquisition... how can you not make it a priority. Especially with more multiple receiver sets on the field and fewer instances with a blocking back to help them.