Thread: Bears D

Originally Posted by Ditka_isGod

As we all know Bears fans love to see nasty mean defense. With the the possible departure of 54 what are the Bears doing to keep the defense nasty? Also are there other holes that need to be patched?

The only real problem with our D is age. We still have 2 great corners in Tillman and Jennings, we have a HOF DE in Peppers, our DTs are pretty "nasty" as well, and Wright and Conte are still pretty good as Safeties.

All they really need to do is make sure we re-sign Melton and possibly Idonije, and draft Lach's replacement (whether Lach stays or not we need to do this).

My worries this off-season is depth for the Bears' D overall ... there are like 15+ UFAs on the defensive side. This is a time when we could inject some youth, but you want guys that can step up & play when their number is called b/c with age of our vets comes the potential of injuries.

Tillman, Jennings, Wright & Conte helped solidify their starting positions. The worries there are finding adequate back-ups and a nickel package guy since Hayden, Bowman and Moore are all UFA. Resigning Melton and Idonije and finding another DT to replace Okoya (via draft or FAs) in the rotation will help resolve the D-Line situation.

I think the biggest question mark this off-season is what Emery & Co. will do with the LBs. We have only 1 of our starting 3 LBs from 2012 under contract and the back-up (Hayes) is even UFA.

I'm not a believer in Thomas or Constanzo being starters. The Urlacher situation is up in the air yet... only Emery & Trestman really know if he'll be back. Roach did not seem to take the Lovie firing that well and may seek a new beginning where he isn't playing low man on the totem pole. But the departure of Urlacher would put the ball in the court of Roach's agent, which might mean having to throw a bit more than what he's worth to bring Roach back in as the MLB.

The only real area of concern as far as the defense is concerned is at LB. Personally I don't think there's anyway they will let Urlacher leave but they may allow him to become a FA just to establish his market value. He's willing to play for less but how much less hasn't been determined and the Bears have made no offers as of yet which tells me they don't want to overpay because we're tight on cap space.

Roach may be a bigger concern because he may get offers we aren't willing to match. He's decent SLB and we've had him cheap most of his career so he may be looking for that BBD elsewhere. If he leaves I believe JT Thomas can step into his spot. The principal role of the Bears SLB is to force plays back into pursuit and seal the left edge on run plays. It's usually a two down position since Roach would normally come out for a NB on 3rd and long. I think Thomas can handle that if Roach leaves and he may.

No matter what we need to look for LB depth in FA and in the draft. If we have an Achilles heel this year defensively that's where it is. Aging stars and key UFA who may leave and largely untested backups across the board. Look for Emery to improve on that.

The line is in good shape. Melton will either be signed of tagged so he's not gonna be leaving but with Tucker here we may see him wanting a bigger body NT than Paea. I think it would be a good move to get a wide body guy maybe not as a starter but as a spot player. Toe was hurt and didn't provide much help and in reality he's not all that much bigger than Paea anyway. Collins played well in limited action as a backup UT and if we bring Izzy back we have another nickel DT for the pass rush. If we can fill a backup NT spot in FA we'd be doing well.

The defensive backfield is in pretty good shape and those positions that need filling or where we need depth is easily remedied. CB and Safteties can start early in their careers and end up as ST guys until they do. Our starters are all very solid and the depth a Safety is good.