Chicago Bears Have Several Fans Around NFL Of Their Young Nucleus

This marks the second time in seven years that the Chicago Bears will have completely cleaned out their power structure. GM Ryan Pace is out and head coach Matt Nagy is out. Their failure to build on the success of their first season together in 2018 proved to be their downfall. George McCaskey may not have wanted to move on, but had little choice with mounting public pressure. Now he has to figure out what went wrong and not make the same mistakes as last time. Many feel this is exactly like 2015. An aging roster with too many expensive contracts and not enough draft capital to fix it in a short period of time. However, the perception isn't quite that bad outside of Chicago. Adam Jahns of The Athletic spoke to experts and NFL scouts around the league for their assessment of the Bears' situation. While it is far from ideal, there was one thing they seemed to agree on.

This team has some young building blocks to be excited about.

It starts with Fields. But according to Bowen and two longtime scouts, the Bears have more to offer their next GM and head coach. Kmet, receiver Darnell Mooney, linebacker Roquan Smith, cornerback Jaylon Johnson and running back David Montgomery were all viewed favorably. “Whoever it is will be inheriting a pretty good roster,” one of the scouts said. “This team is a lot closer than people think. There is a good nucleus.”

It is a fair point. Mooney eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving in 2021 despite three different starting quarterbacks. Kmet became the first Bears tight end to top 600 yards in a season since 2014. Smith became the second linebacker in franchise history to top 160 tackles in a season. Then there was Johnson who had some really strong performances in coverage. Compared to what the Bears had seven years ago, this is way more to work with. This isn't even counting for Justin Fields. While the stats reflect an up-and-down season for the rookie quarterback, there were plenty of flashes to suggest the young passer can play in the NFL. Give him a better structure with more weapons, able protection, and a viable system and things can shift in a positive direction much sooner than later. This is why finding the right head coach/GM combo is so critical. [video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://www.sportsmockery.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FIELDS-TO-MOONEY.-DaBears-CHIvsPIT-on-ESPN-.mp4"][/video]

Chicago Bears still face a big challenge ahead

Having a good young nucleus in place is nice to hear. Yet that doesn't change the fact that this team needs a lot of work. Depth issues persist across the roster and they have aging starters that likely won't last much longer. Making matters even more difficult is the pending exodus of so many names. As of right now, the Bears have 25 players scheduled to be unrestricted free agents in March. That includes Allen Robinson, Bilal Nichols, and James Daniels among others. While they're projected to have around $43 million in salary cap space this offseason, that isn't a lot when there are so many spots to fill. This means the next regime will have to get creative in finding ways to improve their situation. There is a strong likelihood no big moves will be made this offseason, instead putting a great focus on bargain hunting and trying to collect resources for 2023. This means the Chicago Bears will need to get the most out of what they have and hope some of their few acquisitions this year end up hitting.

Not overly exciting but at least a good place to start.

Even though this team went 6-11 this year, it still feels good enough to compete for the playoffs in 2022. They had a top 10 defense once again thanks to their outstanding pass rush. Even a modest improvement on offense should make them competitive in the NFC. Especially if Aaron Rodgers leaves the picture in Green Bay. Another reason that makes the top two jobs so attractive.