Mercifully, the 2016 season has drawn to a close for the Chicago Bears. They finish with their worst record ever in a 16-game regular season format at 3-13. Knee-jerk reactions are for the team to clean out the coaching staff, but rumors are that's not happening. Team chairman George McCaskey seems willing to trust GM Ryan Pace, who is preaching patience.
Firing head coach John Fox won't solve what was the Bears' biggest problem from the beginning. Their roster. When he and Pace arrived in 2015, it was a deserted wasteland. All star power had either left, gotten old or grown to be too big a distraction. The only way to resurrect this phoenix was to let it burn to ashes.
That's what happened. Old veteran players were steadily purged in favor of young free agents and draft picks. While solid in theory, the problem with such an approach is it can lead to growing pains. Young players make mistakes. It's just a reality. Now here the Bears are, going into arguably their most important off-season in over a decade and holding their highest draft pick since 1972.
What in the world should they do with it?
Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune decided to get an early start on the Bears draft discussion. To do so he reached out to a couple scouts around the league. First was a scouting director from an NFC team. He was posed the simple question of which five names should be focused on for the #3 pick?
In that context the #3 pick has been a mixed bag in recent years. Blake Bortles went at that spot in 2014. He's delivered some roller coaster seasons in Jacksonville. On the other hand, Matt Ryan went at that spot in 2008. He's on the cusp of his fourth Pro Bowl and a hot name in the MVP race. So good QBs can be found at that spot. Are there any worth exploring?
Mitch Trubisky is the popular name of late. The North Carolina product is a microwave star, rising out of nowhere in his first season as a starter. Teams fear his lack of experience, but salivate over his skill set.
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He'll be joined by other athletic talents like Deshone Kizer and Deshaun Watson who produced plenty of highlights of their own. The Bears have four months ahead of them to devote every waking minute to figuring out whether one of these young men has what they're looking for at the most important position in professional sports. If any of them flash the good, then there is no shame in using the third overall pick to secure the franchises' future, regardless of what the outside experts say.
Barring all of that? There is really only one other option based on the outlook of this class. The Bears will want to get another pass rusher for their defense. It's complex, but it's not complicated. If Myles Garrett, Derek Barnett or Jonathan Allen are there (and odds say at least two will be) then the decision is easy.
“That list has got to be QB heavy, ” he wrote in a text. “So (DeShone) Kizer and (Mitch) Trubisky. But those top two teams could go QB which could push (Texas A&M defensive end Myles) Garrett to the Bears. Garrett and (Leonard) Floyd would be unstoppable."Biggs then sent that same question to an AFC scout. His answer was decidedly more detailed and emphatic.
“I would spend every single second, every time I had available with the quarterbacks and with their coaching staffs because I would need to know which quarterback has it, ” he said. “I would 30 visit them, I would work them out and I would spend every second I could getting to know them.
They’re not getting Myles Garrett because he’s going to go in the top two. They have to go after a quarterback. Think about it. As much as Trubisky has all the tools, it might be Deshaun Watson. He’s an athlete and at least he can protect himself from not getting killed there. If I was the general manager and I knew that my ass was on the line next year with the head coach, what do we truly need? Jay Cutler hasn’t worked. Let’s get rid of him. Matt Barkley is a good little backup. They need a good quarterback. They’re not going to wait until the third round to take one. They can’t. The other thing they can do if they take a quarterback early, maybe they can buy a little more time with the understanding he’s going to struggle a little at first like rookie quarterbacks tend to do. They’ve got to take a quarterback. You said you were looking for five names. Five names really isn’t what it’s about.”There really is no getting around the reality. The Bears have their first top five draft selection since 2005. They have no definitive answer at the quarterback position. Truthfully it's not that much of an argument. Unless they're able to somehow secure a veteran like Tony Romo or trade for promising backup Jimmy Garoppolo, there is little flexibility here. This team cannot hope to win anything until they find a quarterback.
