Chicago Bears Draft Countdown: Making the Case for Randy Gregory
Published by Matt Eurich on April 16, 2015
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears struggled to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks last season, and they decided to address that issue in free agency by signing outside linebacker Pernell McPhee to help anchor the team’s new 3-4 defense.
In addition to McPhee, the Bears also plan on using Jared Allen, Lamarr Houston and Willie Young at outside linebacker in 2015, but general manager Ryan Pace is not opposed to selecting a pass-rusher with his first pick in this year’s draft.
“If the right pass-rusher is there in the first round, we’ll take that,” Pace said last month, according to Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Even with a handful of players who can play outside linebacker, the Bears still have a need at the position, and Nebraska’s Randy Gregory could be an option in the first round.
A two-year starter at Nebraska, Gregory dominated off the edge for the Cornhuskers in 2013 and 2014 and was a first-team All-Big Ten selection last season.
After his strong junior season, Gregory announced his intention to skip his senior year and enter the 2015 draft.
“As I declare for this year’s NFL draft, I’m ready for the next challenge in my life,” Gregory said in a statement, via Mike Huguenin of NFL.com. “I look forward to the coaching I will receive and the chance to push myself alongside the best players in the world.”
Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller projected Gregory to go as high as third overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars back in February, and at the time, it appeared unlikely he would drop past the Oakland Raiders at No. 4.
He measured in at 6’5″ and 235 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine in February and registered a 4.64 40-yard dash and 10’5″ broad jump, but he later admitted to Kimberly Jones of NFL.com that he tested positive for marijuana.
“Am I worried? Yeah, I’m worried,” he said, according to Jones. “At the same time, I’m confident. I know I’m going to be all right in the end.”
While Gregory’s positive drug test at the combine is alarming, Chris Burke of Sports Illustrated noted that others have tested positive for marijuana at the combine in the past and have gone on to have productive NFL careers.
“Calvin Johnson, at the [2007] combine, admitted to marijuana use, was taken No. 3 overall anyway and is currently in the midst of a possible Hall of Fame career; Justin Houston tested positive for marijuana at the combine, slipped all the way to the 70th pick and has made teams regret passing him over ever since,” Burke wrote.
Gregory has admitted to his wrongdoings and has said he does not want to be defined by his prior actions, per Jones:
I don’t want my career to be defined by the fact that I had failed a drug test or anything of that sort. I want people to remember me as that top-10, top-five [draft pick] that had a 10-year career, a number of championships. I want to be known as that guy. I don’t want to be known as a bust or that guy who came in [to the league] with a drug habit.
The Bears have likely looked into Gregory’s past already, and, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, they plan on meeting with him sometime this week:
If the Bears feel comfortable with the direction Gregory is heading both on and off the field, he has a chance to develop into a star in the NFL under head coach John Fox and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
In the video above, Miller compared Gregory to outside linebacker Aldon Smith, who had success playing under Fangio in San Francisco. Smith has had his share of struggles off the field—he was suspended by the league for nine games in 2014—but he developed into one of the NFL’s best pass-rushers under Fangio.
In addition to Miller, CBS Sports’ Dane Brugler also compared Gregory to Smith.
“With the same combination of length and explosiveness to terrorize quarterbacks, Gregory has elite potential,” Brugler wrote. “A 4-3 defensive end for the Cornhuskers, he has the agility, speed and awareness to get home out of the two-point stance if a move to outside linebacker is required.”
Like Smith (6’4″, 265 lbs), Gregory is tall and lanky and uses his hands well at the point of attack, but he admitted at the combine he needs to improve his technique.
“One of the things I’ve been telling teams is I really want to get better at my technique,” he said, according to Stephen Czarda of Redskins.com. “I think I have decent technique, but as far as setting the edge, I want to get better with my hand placement, my foot placement and my leverage.”
What makes Gregory so effective is his explosiveness off the snap of the ball and the fluidity he displays when he is forced to change directions.
The MMQB’s Greg A. Bedard raved about Gregory’s athleticism in his breakdown of the Nebraska edge-rusher, writing:
But it’s the quickness and explosiveness that makes him truly dangerous. Gregory doesn’t have an elite first step, but it’s very good. Steps two and three are explosive, allowing him to get into linemen, or around them. Gregory is extremely fluid in the hips. That allows him to shuffle around or over blockers and gives him that bend-the-edge ability that separates great edge players from the ones who are just good.
He has a relentless motor, displays good footwork and has the ability to blitz from both the inside and outside, but he struggles to set the edge against the run and often plays a bit too tall.
One way the Bears could offset Gregory’s struggles against the run is to use him similarly to the way Fangio used Smith in San Francisco during his rookie season in 2011.
Smith did not start a game in 2011, but he finished the year with 14 sacks. According to Pro Football Focus, Smith only played 506 of the team’s 1,037 snaps during the regular season. Instead of using Smith as an every-down player, Fangio put Smith in the best position to succeed by allowing him to rush the quarterback on obvious passing downs.
The Bears could use Gregory primarily in sub-packages during his rookie season to get him acclimated to the NFL before relying on him in a bigger role in the future.
He is arguably the most talented edge-rusher in this year’s draft, but the Bears will need to determine whether or not his off-field issues are behind him. If they believe Gregory has cleaned up his act, he could end up anchoring Chicago’s defense for years to come if the Bears take him with the seventh overall pick.
Statistical information courtesy of Sports-Reference.com and NFL.com. Combine numbers and measurables courtesy of NFL.com.
Matt Eurich is a Chicago Bears Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.
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