The Chicago Bears were able to reverse their fortunes last season by going from last to first in the NFC North. The Bears are now looking to stay on top, but the primary picks were used in trades last season to obtain OLB Khalil Mack and WR Anthony Miller.
Despite all of the moving around last season, the Bears addressed some issues in this draft. First, the Bears drafted Montgomery, who should become a solid three-down back for Chicago. The Bears will need for him to be as versatile as he was in college after the Bears traded Jordan Howard to the Philadelphia Eagles. Nevertheless, Montgomery takes advantages of his running opportunities. The proof is in his statistics; he was able to run for over a thousand yards in a pass-happy Big XII Conference.
The running back position for Chicago will be stacked with the additions of Montgomery and Whyte, Jr. Whyte, Jr. will be fighting for carries with Tarik Cohen, Mike Davis, and Montgomery, but Whyte, Jr. is a shifty RB that is able to make tacklers miss.
The Bears then added Riley Ridley at the wide receiver position. Ridley is another option at receiver, as he will be able to play outside or in the slot. This new depth at running back and at wide receiver will now give Bears coach Matt Nagy the offensive flexibility to run the plethora of plays that he will devise next season.
Finally, the Bears were able to add secondary depth with Shelley and Denmark. Shelley should vie for playing time as the slot corner. The height of Denmark should allow for him to prevent taller receivers from scoring in the red zone.
Grade: The Bears did what they had to do in this draft. However, they did not use a pick on a placekicker. Normally, a team should not use a draft pick on a kicker or a punter, but the Bears definitely had a chance to pick from the crop of college kickers. For not grabbing a kicker, their draft grade drops down to C-.
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Whyte, Jr looks fast. I anticipate seeing him in the games
All four running backs should get plenty of time. I am really excited about how the offense will look next season.
I would love to make my way out to a game this fall, since I do not plan on taking any fall semester classes.
If you can find a group to tailgate with before the game, then it makes the game even more fun.
I used to see the tailgate parties a lot at the games in Hawaii.
Khalil Mack is definitely one that I hear a lot about. My client always cheers for him when the Bears are playing, so his name is drilled in my head.