The other Bears position to watch for change besides offensive line

Ben Johnson's comments and his hiring of Dennis Allen point to one place the Bears could finally decide to get serious about addressing in the draft or even free agency.
All signs point to the Bears finally trying to solve their problem at  edge rusher in this draft or free agency.
All signs point to the Bears finally trying to solve their problem at edge rusher in this draft or free agency. / Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images
In this story:

There will be significant roster change with the Bears even if coach Ben Johnson did say he thought the Bears were a sleeping giant.

The giant will keep sleeping unless stirred and the coming additions will help do this.

The area easy to focus on for change with Johnson on offense is the line because of the importance he places on his quarterback and giving him a chance to impact the game through better pass protection.

However, it wasn't so clear on defense what Johnson's emphasis would be. After he spoke last week, it did reveal what players they might focus on the most in this draft and possibly free agency.

Keep an eye on edge rushers and it goes beyond the fact Johnson said they lack "star power" on their defensive line despite the presence of Montez Sweat.

As Johnson said, when describing his philosophy on offense, everything revolves around the quarterback but this also applies on defense. It was critical already in bringing defensive coordinator Dennis Allen when Johnson said, "...whoever we bring in here as defensive coordinator, he's going to understand that that quarterback disruption is something we focus on every week."

Allen can build a pass rush. The Saints were top 10 in sacks from 2017-22 under him.

In this regard, the Bears very well could find help in the draft with the pass rush. It's something they haven't done with any amount of success on the edge under GM Ryan Poles, but with some success at defensive tackle in Gervon Dexter.

Even with their need on the offensive line, it would appear this draft could also finally supply sufficient edge rush help for a change.

In writing his 30,000-foot view of this draft class, Pro Football Focus' Trevor Sikkema this week observed this about the edge rushers: "On defense, the edge defender group is as deep as we’ve seen in several years, dominating the projected top 50."

He does see help available elsewhere on defense later.

"There are also more impact defensive backs this year than a year ago, with plenty of options on all three days of the draft, specifically on Days 2 and 3," Sikkema wrote.

Much interest nationally has been focused on Penn State's Abdul Carter as the cream of the edge crop, and for good reason. Carter's pass rush in the postseason was so much consistently ahead of what any other individual edge rusher showed for the best teams that it was obvious he's worth a top three pick.

However, there are numerous other edge rusher candidates to focus on before the Bears are done with their third-round pick and they face a gap in their drafting until Round 5 on Day 3.

Georgia's Mykel Williams and Texas A&M's Shemar Stewart are potential top 10 picks, which makes them potential Bears if the absolute best offensive line talent gets drafted before they select at No. 10.

Tennessee's James Pearce, Marshall's Mike Green and Texas A&M's Nic Scourton all rate as first rounders according to the NFL Mock Draft Data Base. The same site's big board has Ohio State's Jack Sawyer and J.T Tuimoloau, Arkansas' Landon Jackson, Mississippi's Princely Umanmielen and Jared Ivey, Boston College's Donovan Ezeiruaku and South Carolina's Kyle Kennard all rated high enough to go off before the Bears are done drafting on Day 2.

Delving into free agency for pass rushers is always dangerous because of the high cost. And while there are players worth signing in this year's group there are reasons to avoid the top four or think they won't even be available. According to PFF's rankings, those include Khalil Mack, Josh Sweat, Haason Reddick and Malcolm Koonce.

There are other edges available at more reasonable prices later in free agency without as much baggage and they're players who would be at a higher level than the patchwork group Poles brought in over the last three years that included Al-Quadin Muhammad, Yannick Ngakoue, Rasheem Green, Taco Charlton, Daniel Hardy, Jake Martin and Darrell Taylor. You don't find many instant pass rushers in Round 5 of the draft or later, and they haven't yet in Austin Booker or Dominique Robinson.

Even DeMarcus Walker, signed as an all-around type of end at a higher price, hasn't dented the sack board.

There's every reason because of Johnson's thinking and the past success of Allen with edge rushers in New Orleans to think they can solve this perpetual problem.

Consistently disrupting the opposing quarterback is as important as having your own quarterback ready to play in Year 2 of his career and there's every reason to think it can finally happen for the Bears for the first time since Vic Fangio was the coordinator.

More Chicago Bears News

X: BearsOnSI


Published
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.