NFC North Watch: Chicago Bears

Watching The North: Chicago Bears

Now that the dust has settled on the NFL draft and teams have had their pick of undrafted free agents, its time to look at the competition in the NFC North.  Chicago is was the host city for the golden NFL Draft and they made the most of it.  Most pundits name the Chicago Bears among the winner of this years draft after managing to get two major pieces for their offense as well as the centerpiece of a rebuilt smash mouth defense.

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Key Draftees

WR Kevin White – The Bears got a tall speedy burner in the first round to get down field for Jay Cutler.  Kevin White should be able to stretch the field for the Bears and open up the short passing game.  As the probable number one target for Cutler, Darius Slay will likely draw Smith in coverage.

RB Jeremy Langford – The former Michigan State Spartan may have found a home in the windy city terrorizing the Detroit Lions defense. Matt Forte is still the man in the Bears backfield but Langford will help take some of the beating in third down situations.  His 4.4 breakaway speed will make him dangerous once he get through the line. Langford was a great pick-up in the fourth round and could have the biggest impact for the Bears this season.

DT Eddie Goldman – Normally a city’s fanbase is buzzing about the first round pick but given the Windy City’s obsession with defense all the talk is about second round selection Eddie Goldman. The Chicago Bears have been searching for a leader on defense since Brain Urlacher hung them up.  They think they found their leader in Eddie Goldman who could make it difficult for the Lions revamped running game to get rolling.

Impact of the draft

After being linked to rumors about trading up in the draft to nab Marcus Mariotta, everyone was sure the Bears would draft a potential replacement for Jay Cutler. After all of the controversy surrounding Cutler last season, the Chicago Bears seem to be all in on Cutler for 2015 after failing to draft his replacement in this years draft. Now that the Bears have added Kevin White and Jeremy Langford to the roster, the pressure is on for Cutler to make it work in Chicago again.

The Bears should have a much improved offense this season thanks to an infusion of talent.  Now it will be John Fox and the new Chicago Bears coaching staff to get the talent to gel into an effective unit.