Chicago Bears 2008 NFL Draft Needs
Written April 14, 2008 by Jack Jones
The Chicago Bears are coming off one of the more disappointing seasons in a long time. The 7-9 record might not look that bad, but coming into the season after reaching the Super Bowl the year before the expectations were sky in Chicago. The Bears just couldn’t get it going and wound up tied with the Lions for last place in the NFC North. The bright side is the team ended with two straight victories and the season is over and they now have the offseason and draft to bring the team back to an elite team and Super Bowl contender. So far the Bears are making a stand to stay with Rex Grossman as their starting quarterback, which could be a good thing if he can cut down on the turnovers and the team can get a solid line to protect him. The team did bring back star LB Lance Briggs, which was a big question after what happened with him threatening to hold out at the beginning of last season. The team did a switch up at the receiver spot when it let veterans Bernard Berrian and Mushin Muhammad go and brought in Marty Booker from Miami and Brandon Lloyd from Washington. The team will most likely move to the draft to fill any holes left, and we are going to break down the top 5 positions they need to address in this year’s draft.
1. Offensive Tackle
This is a very big need before the season gets underway. The team is really hurting on the offensive line after RT Fred Millar was released. As of now they have John St. Clair filling in that hole, but the team could definitely benefit from an upgrade here. We are almost certain that this will be the position the team goes after with there first pick at #14. Look for either Pittsburgh’s Jeff Otah or a no brainer if Boise St.’s Ryan Clady somehow falls out of the top 10.
2. Offensive Guard
It doesn’t get much better when you move to the inside of the Bears front 5 on offense. The team is going to be with out long time veteran Ruben Brown, who is coming off a season ending injury that has the Bears thinking he won’t be back. The team went ahead and confirmed that by not giving Brown a new contract. While we think tackle will be the first pick, we wouldn’t be surprised if they go after Virginia’s Brandon Albert.
3. Running Back
Cedric Benson just wasn’t what the team was expecting out of him when they let Thomas Jones go before last season go underway. While his struggles could be part of a poor line, the team just can’t take that risk and will need to grab a speedy back to take some of the load off Benson. The team might go after Texas’s Jamaal Charles or maybe even West Virginia’s Steve Slaton later on in the draft.
4. Wide Receiver
The team could be really hurting here if Devin Hester is unable to improve off last season’s attempt at moving to receiver. The team is still counting on Oklahoma’s Mark Bradley to emerge as a star, after three disappointing seasons. The team will could go after Indiana’s James Hardy or LSU’s Early Doucet in round two.
5. Safety
Since the team seems committed with Grossman at QB, we think they should go after a safety, as Adam Archuleta and Mike Brown are both injury prone and the team could really use a solid backup incase the same story takes place in 2008. This will probably be a late round pick on someone like Arkansas State’s SS Tyrell Johnson or California’s FS Thomas DeCoud.
Be sure to continue to check back as we will continue to be bringing you team-by-team draft articles. Also, be sure to check out our first round Mock Draft. Feel free to leave any comments you might have on the draft and each team’s draft needs in our comment box.
