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The Bears went into this weekend's draft with lots of holes to fill, particularly on offense. They drafted ten new players to fill those needs and improve the team. So were they successful?
Bears GM Jerry Angelo methodically filled most of the team's greatest needs in the first few rounds. The team selected Vanderbilt offensive tackle Chris Williams in the first round, running back Matt Forte from Tulane in the second round and Earl Bennett, a wide receiver who also played at Vandy, in the third.
Choosing an offensive lineman in the first round was the right move, although there is some question as to whether Williams was the best fit for the Bears' offensive schemes since he's better at pass protection than run blocking -- both Jeff Otah and Branden Albert were still available, too. But he should step in and start at left tackle from day one, while John Tait slides over to right tackle.
The hope is that Matt Forte will either push Cedric Benson to play better or win his starting job, either way improving the running game. While Forte had impressive stats in college, the lack of elite competition concerns us. The Bears' Adrian Peterson and Garret Wolfe also put up gaudy against lesser schools, and we haven't seen much from them in the NFL.
In the third round, the Bears picked wide receiver Earl Bennett, who's more of a possession receiver than the deep threat the team really needs to replace Bernard Berrian. However, in the seventh round they might have uncovered a diamond in the rough by selecting wideout Marcus Monk from Arkansas. Tall for a receiver, he was projected much higher until an injury cost him much of his senior year. But he set the Arkansas record for TD catches and showed surprising speed at the combine.
Defense was addressed in the fourth, fifth and seventh rounds with safety Craig Steltz (LSU), cornerback Zack Bowman (Nebraska), defensive end Ervin Baldwin (Michigan St.) and linebacker Joey LaRocque (Oregon St.). We really hope that Steltz is an upgrade over Adam Archeuleta, but the rest are likely projects who'll see limited action.
Overall, Chicagoist thinks the Bears did a pretty good job. It'll probably be a while until we can determine if these guys can play at the next level, although the Trib experts believe we'll see 3-5 of these guys starting this season.
ESPN's Mel Keiper Jr., their top draft guru, gave the Bears a B grade for their draft. Sports Illustrated's Dr. Z was bit more puzzled by their pick.
We can't give the Bears anything higher than a C since the didn't address the QB position at all, other than signing Southern Illinois QB Nick Hill as a free agent after nobody drafted him. Does Jerry Angelo think he's got another Tony Romo on his hands?
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
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Tulane running back? Yeah, we might as well have looked in the JuCo draft pool. Unless he is a huge surprise he will fall the way of Adrian Peterson.
Forte is one of 11 guys to ever rush for 2,000 yards in a season in NCAA football history. Now the competition might not be great in Conference USA, but Forte was the only weapon Tulane had. Teams would stack 8 in the box routinely against him, and he still had 2100+ yards. He also can catch the ball out of the backfield. I think he will be a solid NFL back. Not the next Payton, or Barry, or LT, but solid. Tulane is also D1-A, Georgia Southern(where Peterson) is not. Also FWIW Peterson was not drafted to be a number one back. A solid backup, who contributes greatly on special teams is exactly what he was expected to be.