Windy City Gridiron
The Chicago Bears are less than a week away from cutting the 90-man roster down to 53 players. Several of the position groups appear strong, but there are certainly some questions surrounding some of the groups. Some of them are related to depth, but unfortunately, some of them are related to spots where the Bears will need key contributions.
Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson might be looking at the roster and think that it’s good enough to go to war with in September. They’ve fixed a lot of the issues on the roster this offseason, but they haven’t fixed everything. It should also be considered that both of them understand that there was no way to fix every issue in one offseason.
The Bears’ running back room certainly has questions. It’s tough to tell how many because we haven’t seen D’Andre Swift in the preseason, Kyle Monangai didn’t play in the second preseason game after a good performance in the first, Roschon Johnson and Travis Homer are banged up, but there are certainly questions that linger.
Bears fans are excited about Austin Booker’s preseason performance, but are you confident that he’s all they need backing up the starters at Edge? Behind him, there aren’t many trustworthy defenders either.
Are you confident in Braxton Jones as the starting left tackle? It would be difficult to maneuver for any more tackles, but perhaps that’s somewhere you think the Bears could beef things up.
My answer: First of all, let’s eliminate tackle and running back. Cross your fingers that Braxton Jones gets right by week one; it’s just what it needs to be at that point.
I just don’t see a running back worth pursuing. I thought the idea of Kenneth Walker made sense, but with Kenny McIntosh on IR for Seattle, I just don’t see Seattle parting with him this year; they’ll need him.
I look at this edge room, and it makes me sweat. I don’t see any depth that makes me feel comfortable, and if either of the Bears’ starters goes down with an injury and misses a few games, that depth is going to be exposed, and it’s going to be ugly.
I would love to see the team pursue Za’Darius Smith. He will probably cost $7 to $10 million, which I wonder if the Bears would be willing to spend, but I would expect some sort of veteran pass rusher to be dropped off someone’s final 53, and if the right player is available, the Bears need to pounce. I think if the Bears don’t pursue to major edge like Smith, you could make the argument that they should try to scoop up two more edge defenders. I think the room is that thin.
*What do you say, Bears fans? Do you think the Bears should add a veteran edge? Do you think they should add a veteran at another position? Sound off below...
