Every Move Didn't Upgrade the Team

A look at which position groups have been upgraded the most by the Bears in the offseason through the draft and free agency.

When coach Matt Eberflus gathered around the rookie additions, he could barely contain his enthusiasm for putting them together with his veterans and starting up on-field organized team activities later this month.

They're hoping the full year of the coaching staff working hand in hand with Ryan Poles and the personnel department will yield even talent more suited to scheme than last year.

"When you have a year under your belt—Ryan and I have a year under our belt—we got a chance to evaluate our roster, where it was and what we did to the roster going into free agency," Eberflus said. "Then building it back up through free agency and now building up another year in the draft, I think we're more in line just because of the year of experience together.

"But we had a lot of pieces to fill. It was very, very cool that it was the second year because we got a chance to lay the culture and it just happened to be that way. We worked it out through free agency and the draft and it was exciting."

They probably did better improving some areas over others through the full course of the offseason. 

With only a possible straggler at a need position like a free agent edge rusher still to go, here's which position groups look the most improved overall for the Bears.

1. Linebacker

This would be improved over the end of the season and not the beginning because they had a pretty fair linebacker named Roquan Smith on the roster until midseason. However, they finished the bulk of the second half starting Nick Morrow, Jack Sanborn and Joe Thomas at weakside, middle and strongside linebackers respectively. The common thread there? All three were undrafted free agents when they came into the league.

They added a two-time Pro Bowl and former first-round pick in Tremaine Edmunds, a fifth-year player with 47 NFL starts in TJ Edwards and drafted fifth-rounder Noah Sewell. They also signed Dylan Cole and still have Sanborn. The upgrade has been signficant without the need for projection or potential. They also have this in Sewell, their multi-use player from Oregon. He could be a blitzing linebacker or even a starter.

2. Wide Receiver

There is no guesswork involved here. Adding a receiver who had over 1,100 yards in the passing game three straight years with a variety of passers like DJ Moore did puts the Bears well ahead of where they were. The guessing is how much Chase Claypool will be better with an offseason to work into the offense instead of walking on the scene at the midpoint and then missing a few games with injuries while Justin Fields also missed a few games. They really only had a handful of games together on the field and the results naturally figure to improve. What the selection of potential slot receiver Tyler Scott does is back up Darnell Mooney and provide possibly even more speed to the group and that never hurts.

It's possible this means Velus Jones Jr. gets squeezed even more into the background than last year. Either way, when Moore, Scott and a better version of Claypool are there for Fields to target, it's the most improved position group on offense.

3. Offensive Line

Guesswork keeps this from being one of the two most improved areas. In Darnell Wright, they added a first-round draft pick. It's something they lacked previously. He's also SEC-tested, and that's something they lacked among offensive starters last year. The guesswork isn't so much Wright as it is Teven Jenkins. Signing right guard Nate Davis is a strong addition but no one knows what will happen with Jenkins because he's at left guard and hasn't played there since his first year of college football. Also falling under the guesswork category is how Cody Whitehair handles a move back to center after 2 1/2 years at left guard. At least he does have NFL experience playing there and adding Wright and Davis alone make this a better line.

4. Secondary

They improved one spot with quality, may have improved another and also solidified their depth. Second-round cornerback Tyrique Stevenson means they have three second-round cornerback starters and is an upgrade over using fifth-round Kindle Vildor there. The potential upgrade is how it will make slot cornerback Kyler Gordon better because he can focus on that position instead of moving around as he did last year. Having Vildor, an experienced starter, competing with experienced second-year undrafted players like Josh Blackwell and Jaylon Jones as backups can only improve depth. And they discovered last year they need this when they lost every member of the secondary for at least a few games or to IR.

5. Tight End

The addition of Robert Tonyan Jr. gives them another receiving tight end threat who was targeted 67 times last year. Ryan Griffin and Trevon Wesco accounted for 12 targets combined last year so the potential for far more from this position cries out.

6. Defensive Line

They may have solved only 50% of their problem. 

Adding two rookie defensive tackles in the first three rounds of the draft can't hurt, even if it takes them a short time to work into the scheme and adjust to a higher level of play. 

The free agent ends they have signed—Rasheem Green and DeMarcus Walker—play more like defensive tackles than edge rushers. 

The goal of all of these acquisitions was to improve their ability to stop the run, which was greatly needed. They've done little to nothing to improve the other aspect of defensive line play where they struggled and that's rushing the passer.

The Tribune's Brad Biggs mentioned the possibility of addressing these problems by trading for either Jets edge Carl Lawson or Vikings edge rusher Za'Darius Smith. Another rumor popping up prior to the draft was trading for Washington edge Chase Young. But there are problems with these moves. Both Young (knee) and Lawson (Achilles) have past injury issues to be concerned with and there really is no reason why the Vikings would want to trade a pass rusher of Smith's quality to the Bears and then face him twice a year. It makes almost no sense from their standpoint, especially considering he's under contract through 2024.

Considering the current Bears situation, a one-year contract for one of the free agents available looks more sensible because then they could focus in the draft at finding a long-term answer next year.

7. Running Back

It's entirely unclear whether they've done anything to improve at running back. 

They've split up duties and added depth by no longer relying on one back as much as they did with David Montgomery. 

Roschon Johnson was a sub in college so projecting more than a few carries a game from him immediately is a reach. The potential to be as good as last year or even somewhat better exists but potential is what gets coaches fired. They need production.

"I would say the vision isn’t necessarily set yet, but I think it’s a really cool and unique opportunity for a lot of guys who have a lot of experience," Getsy said of his backs. "I think the competition in that room is going to be real. 

"So we’re going to get to see the best come out of each one of those guys. And it’s super important for that position to have multiple guys who can do it, right? I mean, there’s not … I don’t know if there’s any team that can rely on one guy anymore with the pounding and the length of the season and all that stuff."

Depth is an asset. The quality needs to be proven.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven