Defensive Depth Chart Discussion

[BearbaFett]

deon, deiondre, and deandre have been diappointments

 

[BringBackDitka54]

deon, deiondre, and deandre have been diappointments

They're all the same person to me. All in their early 20s, all defensive backs, and all below-average.

 

[Sagbear]

Since there is already an offensive depth chart discussion, here is the defensive side.

DEFENSE

Cornerback (6): Kyle Fuller, Prince Amukamara, Bryce Callahan, Marcus Cooper, Sherrick McManis , Cre'Von LeBlanc

The Bears paid big bucks to Fuller and Amukamara in the offseason. Callahan is an underrated nickel back.

Safety (4): Eddie Jackson, Adrian Amos, Deon Bush, DeAndre Houston-Carson

Jackson and Amos developed nice chemistry last year. The Bears are still searching for a dependable backup safety.

Linebaker (9): Leonard Floyd, Danny Trevathan, Roquan Smith, Aaron Lynch, Sam Acho, Nick Kwiatkoski , Joel Iyiegbuniwe, Kylie Fitts, Isaiah Irving

Defensive line (6): Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Jonathan Bullard, Bilal Nichols, Roy Robertson-Harris, John Jenkins

The Bears believe Hicks and Goldman have Pro Bowl potential. Chicago needs Bullard to step up and round out their starting lineup up front.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Punter (1): Pat O'Donnell

The Bears re-signed O'Donnell in the offseason.

Kicker (1): Cody Parkey

Chicago guaranteed Parkey $9 million.

Long snapper (1): Patrick Scales

Scales missed last year because of an injury but he's still the front-runner to win the starting job.

Kick returner (1): Tarik Cohen

Cohen is a future Pro Bowler on special teams.

Punt returner (1): Tarik Cohen

Cohen returned a punt for a touchdown as a rookie.

Did you steal this from the Espn article yesterday http://www.espn.com.au/blog/chicago/bears/post/_/id/4708160

 

[Sammich]

Did you steal this from the Espn article yesterday http://www.espn.com.au/blog/chicago/bears/post/_/id/4708160

I don`t know. I found the defensive depth chart on a google search and then posted it here for readers to see. Its the official depth chart, NOT an opinion, so the source is not relevant.

 

[Kaufman20Embalm]

deon, deiondre, and deandre have been diappointments

DHC has actually been really good at special teams. You can't expect all late rd picks to develop into starters, but for a 6th rd pick I think he has been pretty good.

Bush and Hall on the other hand are another story. I think Bush will get the ax this year if he doesn't have a strong camp. Hall may get another chance because he showed flashes prior to his ankle injury in 16 but I wouldn't be surprised to see him gone as well.


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[BearbaFett]

DHC has actually been really good at special teams. You can't expect all late rd picks to develop into starters, but for a 6th rd pick I think he has been pretty good.

Bush and Hall on the other hand are another story. I think Bush will get the ax this year if he doesn't have a strong camp. Hall may get another chance because he showed flashes prior to his ankle injury in 16 but I wouldn't be surprised to see him gone as well.


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i actually think DHC is the worst out of the 3...he was the only one out of them to not make it onto the 53 last year because he had a horrid preseason playing safety. he eventually made it onto the roster after the eagles tried to sign him off our practice squad.

his only value is on special teams so unless he’s better at it than mcmanis, its unlikely he makes the team.

 

[Kaufman20Embalm]

Good point. I saw his value on special teams and overlooked his lack of value at safety. It seemed like for awhile he was making every tackle on punt and kickoff coverages. I think I would still take him over bush at this point. I have been very disappointed with his play as a whole.


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[JoJoBoxer]

Eagles had holes and not a ton of depth on defense besides pass rushers in the ‘17 offseason. The secondary was nothing great, but guys stepped up in a big way. Let’s let this play out. Unless a huge surprise falls to us, I doubt Pace makes many more moves

Philly knew that a strong pass rush makes everyone else better, or to put it another way, it masks other deficiencies.

The Bears are paper thin on the defensive line and pass rushers. This leaves every other position exposed.

What is even worse, and in my mind the Achilles heel, is the defensive line. It is paper thin without any backups. Goldman and Hicks basically have to play all game long because there really isn´t anyone to back them up. If one of them goes down, teams won´t have to worry about the bears DBs because they are going to run all over them.

Picking up Hankins could be a huge move.

 

[emaugust]

I feel like we have enough cap to secure the cream of the crop in whoever is available from here on out at edge in free agency. I guess at this point it will be camp cuts?

 

[theOHIOSTATE!]

Lotta youth in that secondary.

Not going to check all their ages for this season, but Prince will be passed 29.5 by the end of this coming season. That is getting on for a CB in the NFL.

I think we need to add a young stud to the mix next yr if possible.....

I actually think we're better as S than a lot of folks seem to think. Amos is a long term solution back there; that became clearer to me as last season wore on.

 

[Sagbear]

I don`t know. I found the defensive depth chart on a google search and then posted it here for readers to see. Its the official depth chart, NOT an opinion, so the source is not relevant.

This IS an opinion. The official depth chart hasn’t been released this is Jeff Dickersons prediction for the depth chart

 

[Porkchop]

D-line, S

Seem awfully unproven in depth.

I’m fine with CB and would like McManis to clear way for a player with Bellamy.

Tolliver and iggy and Nall and Wims can bring fresh meat to ST’s while retaining future roster value. Pace is going to have to make decisions on a lot of his guys soon...and 2018 May be waiting one year too late.

My concerns are mostly on defense this season. Goldman, Hicks, Floyd, Jackson, Amos

That is 5 positions where the back-up lacks class or experience. Too many.

It gets scary for whole team if any go down for a game.

Two other positions on defense are just a guy to fill.

In 4-6 weeks of attrition you could be looking at half a defense of just guys.

Get me Hankins. Pray about the safeties.

And I think I illuminated the problem with this team.

Loss of
Leno, Trubisky, Howard, Robinson, Goldman, Hicks, Floyd, Jackson

8 guys who would leave a crippling void.

I wonder how that compares around league.

I don't get it. How is this a "Bears" problem? Yeah, it would be pretty drastic if the Bears lost their starting QB, Pro-Bowl level RB, #1 receiver and their two best defensive linemen. I'm pretty sure that's going to be the case for a vast majority of the league.

Very VERY few teams have a Nick Foles as a backup. Most of them have Brett Hundley or Brian Hoyer. In other words, substantial downgrades. We saw what happened to Dallas when they lost Zeke Elliott. Rams would be in a lot of trouble if Goff got hurt or Gurley went down for an extended period of time. What if they lost Aaron Donald? This isn't a Bears problem. It's just something the Bears have had to deal with significantly more than others recently and appear to be better equipped now to deal with it than in years past. Doesn't mean they'll be able to make a seemless transition, but they can weather a few injuries here or there as long as it's not a massive outbreak like we saw from 2013-17.

The Bears have had several injuries on defense, especially last season and they were still quite good. I'd rather it not happen and there are holes still, but I'm not too worried. This team has solid depth most areas. I'd feel significantly better with Hankins in the fold which would give us a solid group on the DL with 4 quality backups.

 

[Sammich]

This IS an opinion. The official depth chart hasn’t been released this is Jeff Dickersons prediction for the depth chart

Regardless, it seems to be the general consensus. It is the same depth chart found in numerous sources, such as here:

http://www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/depthchart/CHI

....and tons of other links, all the same.

Like I said, the source is irrelevant here, since there is really no difference in opinion as to who the starters are on defense, no matter where you look.

 

[playthrough2001]

There are some decent options still available if the Bears sustained an injury at corner or safety. Boston, Breeland, Vaccaro, Ward and Reid are still FAs.

The hope is the younger guys have the light go on and provide better depth.

 

[Sammich]

There are some decent options still available if the Bears sustained an injury at corner or safety. Boston, Breeland, Vaccaro, Ward and Reid are still FAs.

The hope is the younger guys have the light go on and provide better depth.

I like Kenny Vaccaro but his play has been much too inconsistent and erratic throughout his short career. He was awesome in his rookie year, I think he got benched in his 2nd year, redeemed himself in 2015, then was suspended for PEDs and suffered a few injuries in 2016 and 2017.

 

[playthrough2001]

I like Kenny Vaccaro but his play has been much too inconsistent and erratic throughout his short career. He was awesome in his rookie year, I think he got benched in his 2nd year, redeemed himself in 2015, then was suspended for PEDs and suffered a few injuries in 2016 and 2017.

Agree and Pace obviously knows him well... All the guys I listed would be emergency options.

 

[Sagbear]

Hankins is a guy I still really want he’s a solid player and could play DE And DT for us

 

[Nelly]

Hankins is a guy I still really want he’s a solid player and could play DE And DT for us

It looks like he'll be an expensive guy. He signed for 9 mil per year last year and is rumored to want $8 mil per on a multi-year deal. Pace seems to be laying low for now to retain some flexibility next year but the offseason isn't over yet.

 

[baredown]

Lumping Deiondre Hall together with Bush & DHC is just plain silly. Hall played quite a bit in 2016, and did a decent job as a rookie 4th rd choice. Most people were projecting solid contributions from him for 2017, and were looking forward to seeing how his conversion to S went. He was simply hurt last year, that's all. Bush, on the other hand, has not shown anything in his very limited playing time at S, and DHC has firmly established himself as an ST guy who only plays the secondary in injury disaster situations. The Bears thought enough of Hall last year that they left him on the initial 53 at cutdown, and only after that moved him to IR. Put another way, that's an indication they wanted to keep him around. There's no reason to believe that feeling has changed...

 

[dennehy]

Lumping Deiondre Hall together with Bush & DHC is just plain silly. Hall played quite a bit in 2016, and did a decent job as a rookie 4th rd choice. Most people were projecting solid contributions from him for 2017, and were looking forward to seeing how his conversion to S went. He was simply hurt last year, that's all. Bush, on the other hand, has not shown anything in his very limited playing time at S, and DHC has firmly established himself as an ST guy who only plays the secondary in injury disaster situations. The Bears thought enough of Hall last year that they left him on the initial 53 at cutdown, and only after that moved him to IR. Put another way, that's an indication they wanted to keep him around. There's no reason to believe that feeling has changed...

He played 79 defensive snaps in 2016 over 6 games. Bush played 333.