Reassessing Bears’ Offseason Plan and Breaking Down What’s Left to Address
Published by Matt Eurich on April 6, 2014
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Few teams in the NFL have been as busy this offseason as the Chicago Bears have been in their attempts to overhaul a defense that was one of the worst in the league in 2013.
While the Bears offense was one of the best in the league, the defense struggled with getting after the quarterback and stopping the run. General manager Phil Emery made it a point to improve both areas with his signings.
Since the start of free agency, Chicago bolstered its defense by signing defensive ends Jared Allen, Lamarr Houston, Willie Young and Israel Idonije; linebacker D.J. Williams; cornerback Charles Tillman; safeties M.D. Jennings, Ryan Mundy, Danny McCray and Craig Steltz; wide receiver/kick returner Domenik Hixon and special teamer/linebacker Jordan Senn. The team also released defensive end Julius Peppers and wide receiver Earl Bennett, via ChicagoBears.com.
Despite making all of those moves, there are still areas of this team that need to be addressed this offseason.
One position that struggled the most in 2013 was the safety position. Despite some new additions, the team needs to solidify the position and could look to the draft to not only bolster that position but also the rest of the team’s depth. Offensively, Josh McCown proved last season how valuable a good backup quarterback can be. The team will need to address Jay Cutler‘s backup now that McCown has moved on and will need to determine if Marquess Wilson can take over the third wide receiver position.
Lastly, with all of the talk about how the defense struggled and the offense flourished in 2013, the special teams unit will need some upgrades.
