Chicago Bears Are Sneakily Active at This Position During Combine

The Chicago Bears brass is down in Indianapolis in full force for the scouting combine. They know this 2020 offseason could be the most important of their professional lives. GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy are operating with a target on their backs after such a disappointing 2019. Many feel they are on the cusp of wasting a Super Bowl-caliber defense because of their failures to construct a viable offense.

This is why most of the buzz around that event has centered on them either meeting with offensive prospects or being linked to offensive free agents. Tight end Austin Hooper is the latest. That said, something else of interest has begun to form. While the big talk is on offense, the Bears have quietly been doing their due diligence on defense as well.

Especially at one position. Already it's been revealed by various players that the team has been active among the class of edge rushers. No fewer than four revealed they'd met formally or informally with them. They are K'Lavon Chaisson of LSU, Yetur Gross-Matos of Penn State, Jonathan Greenard of Florida and his teammate Jabari Zuniga.

Each of those Chicago Bears meetings share something

It wouldn't be much to write about if those were just a regular group of players. However, each of those names share something in common. Most are expected to go somewhere on the first two days of the draft between the 1st and 3rd rounds. The Draft Network ranks Chaisson as their 14th overall prospect, Gross-Matos 30th, Greenard 83rd, and Zuniga 120th. This signals that the Bears could be thinking about drafting a pass rusher early with one of their 2nd round picks.

That wouldn't be a huge surprise. Leonard Floyd had just three sacks in 2019. Far below expectations. Aaron Lynch and Isaiah Irving are free agents. So the depth at outside linebacker is a big concern for the Bears right now. One of those guys could end up being a solution to this problem.

Chaisson had 6.5 sacks last year for LSU and was their most disruptive pass rusher. Many view him as the second-best edge in this class behind Chase Young. Gross-Matos was a consistent force for Penn State the past two years, collecting 17 sacks. Greenard had his best season in college last year with 10 sacks for Florida while Zuniga had 3.5 in five games before getting injured.