With the Chicago Bears in dire need of a quarterback, many fans expect them to select one in the first-round of April's draft. Recent reports indicate otherwise.
Almost every single recent mock draft, from respectable analysts, has the Bears selecting defensive lineman Jonathan Allen out of Alabama with the third overall pick. There seems to be a clear consensus, as of right now, that the Cleveland Browns will take Myles Garrett and the San Francisco 49ers will select a quarterback. This leaves Chicago with an important decision, do they take the second-best quarterback off the board or select Allen who's considered the best pure defensive lineman in the draft?
Considering almost everyone has the Bears selecting Allen right now, what are the Bears going to do about the quarterback position? Yahoo recently wrote an article saying they should follow the 2014 strategy of the Raiders. They selected phenom pass-rusher Khalil Mack with their first pick then came back and swooped up Derek Carr with their second. Had it not been for Carr's injury, they were a legit threat to battle for the AFC this year. The Bears would love to be in contention for the NFC in three years, following the plan of Oakland makes sense due to the current state of the franchise. Something else worth noting about the Raiders' 2014 draft, there was no clear #1 quarterback with Teddy Bridgewater, Blake Bortles and Johnny Manziel rounding out the pack. Bridgewater's career could be over. The Jaguars reached on Bortles, now he's on the trade block. Manziel isn't even worth talking about. -->
The main reasoning behind selecting Allen is the lack of depth at the defensive tackle position for Chicago in it's 3-4. Jonathan Bullard, last year's third-round pick, was supposed to help address it but he ended up getting benched for performance issues. The Bears finished with the 27th best run defense last year, it's clear there's still a need at the position.
The selection of Allen would give Chicago, arguably, the best young defensive front in the league with a healthy Eddie Goldman and Akiem Hicks. When you surround those players with quality edge rushers in Pernell McPhee and Leonard Floyd, then add-in Pro Bowl caliber linebackers Danny Trevathan and Jerrell Freeman, there's a ton of potential for this defense to be dominant. That's why most think Allen could be the guy.
That leaves Chicago with a lower-round quarterback and or a free agent. Ryan Pace could select a player like Patrick Mahomes in the second-round and start this season with Brian Hoyer at the helm. It would makes sense when you factor in his past selections, Pace hasn't taken a quarterback in two drafts so far with the Bears.
Or... he could package up the second-round pick for a player like Jimmy Garoppolo and let him compete with Hoyer for next season's starting role. Additional players like Mike Glennon and Tyrod Taylor could be possibilities as well.
The exact plan for next season continues to remain a mystery, but nobody with any kind of credibility is currently expecting Chicago to draft a quarterback in the first round in April.... at least not at third overall. (making trading back into the first possible too)
B
BearsRecord:--
