Will the Bears Draft Another Safety?...................

Article posted: 4/15/2012 5:57 PM

Will Bears draft another safety?

By Bob LeGere

Having spent their past two third-round draft choices on safeties Major Wright and then Chris Conte, the Bears should be in good shape at the position, especially considering four-year veteran Craig Steltz was re-signed last month.

However, Wright has been nicked up off and on throughout his first two seasons, and his performance has been inconsistent throughout. He has started games at both strong and free safety, but he missed four games last season and five games as a rookie in 2010.

Conte was promoted to the starting job at free safety as a rookie after Brandon Meriweather played himself out of the lineup. Conte did a solid job of keeping plays in front of him through nine starts, but an ankle/foot injury landed him on injured reserve for the final two games.

The injuries to Wright and Conte allowed Steltz to get a career-high five starts, including the final four, all at strong safety. In the last five games of the season, Steltz had 37 tackles, trailing only linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs.

The Bears have selected a safety in each of their last seven drafts under Jerry Angelo, including Steltz in the fourth round in 2008. This year’s crop of safeties lacks quality, although there are a handful of size-speed guys who could be available in the middle and late rounds.


• Follow Bob’s Bears reports via Twitter @BobLeGere, and check out his Bear Essentials blog at dailyherald.com.

Article updated: 4/15/2012 5:59 PM

NFL Draft preview: Weak crop of safeties

http://www.dailyherald.com/apps/pbcs...w=248&maxh=247	Notre Dame defensive back Harrison Smith may have the skills the NFL needs to handle big tight ends. Associated Press
http://www.dailyherald.com/apps/pbcs...w=248&maxh=167	Notre Dame safety Harrison Smith probably won’t get drafted in the first round, but he has the speed and toughness to handle that position in the NFL. Associated Press
http://www.dailyherald.com/apps/pbcs...w=171&maxh=248	Notre Dame defensive back Harrison Smith runs a drill at the NFL Scouting Combine in February. Associated Press

By Bob LeGere

Six of the top 17 pass catchers in the NFL last season were tight ends, and there’s no reason to believe the trend of utilizing that position in the passing game will subside.

That means teams are looking for big, fast safeties who can cover freakishly athletic tight ends such as the New England Patriots’ Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez and the New Orleans Saints’ Jimmy Graham.

The Bears are no different, even though they believe they could already have their safety tandem of the future in Chris Conte and Major Wright, whom they acquired in the third round of the past two drafts.

Unfortunately for defensive coordinators, this year’s safety crop leaves much to be desired. Alabama’s Mark Barron is probably the only safety who will be drafted in the first round, and the Bears won’t use their top pick at 19 to address that position. Only one or two other safeties may be drafted before the fourth round.

The best of the rest after Barron are Notre Dame’s 6-foot-2, 213-pound Harrison Smith and Boise State’s 6-foot-3½, 225-pound George Iloka, both of whom are better suited as free safeties.

Smith, who also got several starts at linebacker for the Irish early in his career, was a four-year starter and says handling tight ends is one of the things he does best. “That’s something that I can bring to teams, the ability to cover tight ends man-to-man,” he said. “It’s something I did throughout my career. In practice, I got to go against Kyle Rudolph, and this past year I went against Tyler Eifert, and he’ll be picked next year.”

The 6-foot-6, 258-pound Rudolph was the Vikings’ second-round pick (43rd overall) a year ago and had 26 catches for 249 yards as a rookie.

“There’s a difference when you’re dealing with a guy that size, like all these tight ends are,” Smith said. “They’re tall, they can run, they’re agile, they’ve got big hands, and they can catch everything. There’d be times in practice when I’d have Kyle covered, but he’d still catch the ball, just because he’s so big that you can’t get around him. So it’s really just about body position.”

Despite his excellent size, Iloka showed enough speed and movement skills to start three games at cornerback last season, and his 4.03-second time in the 20-yard shuttle was the best among all safeties at the Combine. But he does not get high marks as a ball athlete. After picking off 4 passes as a freshman, Iloka had just 3 in the next three years.

Article posted: 4/15/2012 5:57 PM

Top 10 safety prospects


Name, school Ht. Wt. 40 Bob LeGere’s assessment


Mark Barron, Alabama 6-1 213 4.55 Can excel in the box and cover


Harrison Smith, N. Dame 6-1 213 4.56 Size, speed to match TEs


George Iloka, Boise State 6-3 225 4.63 Has size and athleticism to start


Brandon Hardin, Ore. St. 6-2 222 4.55 15 games at CB; injured in 2011 (Bears have taken a look at him)


Trent Robinson, Mich. St. 5-9¾ 195 4.48 Skilled; could project to CB


Markelle Martin, Ok. St. 6-0¾ 207 4.50 Better athlete than football player


Antonio Allen, So. Car. 6-1½ 210 4.64 Size, tackling ability ideal


Aaron Henry, Wisconsin 5-11¾ 208 4.54 Plays like a finesse CB


Christian Thompson, SC St 6-0¼ 211 4.49 Has some physical tools


*Janzen Jackson, McNeese 5-11½ 188 4.61 Playmaker who plays soft


* Denotes junior

Despite the fact that Angelo is no longer running the draft there's no denying we still need more help at Safety, especially FS. This crop isn't said to be that strong but what I can see is a few pretty big boys who don't look all that bad.

Harrison Smith probably leads the list of those guys who will go after the first round and Iloka may not be far behind. The Bears have been kickin' the tires of Stephen Paea's old teammate Brandon Hardin. The guy had great size and speed but brings an injury concern with him (naturally, we like injured guys).

Another guy I like is Aaron Henry from Wisconsin who should be a mid to late round pick but while he has coverage skills I'm not certain he's as physical a player as Lovie likes his Safeties to be. Markelle Martin has put up some good numbers as far as the physical side is concerned but looks like he may be more of a ST guy and career backup.

Not a lot to choose from but a need is there to find help somewhere be it in the draft or FA.

I would love to see Harrison Smith in a Bears uniform.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by little bear

I would love to see Harrison Smith in a Bears uniform.

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As would I. Unfortunately, even if he was good enough to be value at 19, I just really don't want to spend a 1st on a Safety. I would have no problem spending our second for him, but I think he IS good enough to be selected in front of us. Probably quite a bit in front of us.

He and a few others are why I would consider giving up our 1st for two seconds. There is some nice value in the second this year (in my opinion). Hell, trade Forte to one of the teams with two seconds and give us 5 picks in the second round. That could fill some holes with some very nice talent pretty quickly.:smile:

If there's one worthy, I'd pick for either safety spot if WR and OL are all depleted by 19

I love all my ND players. Harrison Smith is a going to be a very good pro. That being said...I wouldn't be bothered at all if the Bears did something really crazy like draft Barron in Rd 1. I doubt they will do that but he's going to be a great safety in the NFL. He just has all the tools to dominate out of the gate.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Henry Burris

If there's one worthy, I'd pick for either safety spot if WR and OL are all depleted by 19

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I don't rate any of them that high Henry. I think Barron is the only one who may go in one and usually it's later in the round. Harrison is a solid number two pick and Iloka may be as well but you never know. Safeties aren't all that high a priority to the Bears as far as higher picks go. They always seem to think the can get decent talent in the mid rounds. Of course with Emery that may change but I don't see us taking Barron.

I really don't see us drafting a safety until day 3. Maybe 4th but probably the 5th or 6th rd. I see us drafting a DE, CB, OL, WR & possibly DT before saftey. JMHO