NFL Draft 2011: 5 Players the Bears Might Focus on That Are Not on the O-Line
Published by Jeff Kayer on April 27, 2011
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
We’re just a little more than a day away from the NFL draft and fans across the country are eagerly anticipating league commissioner Rodger Goodell’s announcement of the Carolina Panthers’ first overall pick.
While there is wide speculation as to who will be drafted in the top five of the draft, there have been safe assumptions as to what teams will focus on later in the first round.
This is the case of the Chicago Bears, who are picking 29th in this year’s draft. The vast majority of people believe the Bears will be picking an offensive lineman, a very logical choice. After all, the Bears had the worst offensive line in football last season, allowing the most sacks in the NFL, including an astonishing nine in just one half against the New York Giants.
Their line is a bad combination in the case of Olin Kreutz and Roberto Garza, injury-plagued in the case of potential draft bust Chris Williams and raw as best exemplified as 2010 seventh-round pick J’Marcus Webb.
It makes total sense for the Bears to be targeting an offensive lineman.
However, the same could be said for the past several years, yet the only lineman the Bears have targeted the past several years was Williams. While drafting Williams was all well and good, he’s been shaky at best while another lineman, Jeff Otah, selected later by the Carolina Panthers, has fared much better.
Other than that, Angelo has insisted on drafting lineman in the latter stages of the draft, insisting that he can build a line in the fifth, sixth or seventh rounds.
For this reason, Bears fans shouldn’t get too comfortable seeing the likes of Nate Solder, Derek Sherrod or Gabe Carimi donning Bears blue and orange.
The question is, who might the Bears focus on in the first round?
Here are five guys the Bears might target that are not offensive linemen.
