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When Dave Wannstedt came to Chicago fresh off Dallas’ Superbowl victory, Chicago fans were thrilled that they might get a team like Dallas. Dallas had after all, the best defense in the league that year and Chicago fans know that you win with defense. After four years on the job the Bears finally have a defense like the one that Wannstedt coached in Dallas. What do you mean? I can hear the Bears fans chant almost in unison, there’s not a lot of sacks, not any blitzing, and not a lot of interceptions. Dave’s got his cornerbacks playing ten yards off the ball and teams seem to move the ball up and down the field at will. Like I said, we have Dave’s Dallas defense.......... Huh! Wannstedt’s defense both here and in Dallas is based on the same premise. We are going to make you move the ball 80 yards down the field to score. And to do that - you are going to have to get 6 or 7 first downs, because we are not going to give you the "big play". Dave figures that it’s hard to keep an offensive drive going, that the offense will make a mistake, someone will make a big play on defense or when the offense gets close to the end zone, the compressed field will make it easier for the defense and they won’t have to allow any cushion for the wide receivers. Every defense no matter how good it is has openings that an offense can exploit. Wannstedt’s theory is that the openings he’s going to allow you are short passes and short runs. While Dallas had some very good players, if you look closely at the Dallas defense there weren’t any big stars or sack leaders; in fact, none of the defensive players that year were voted to the pro-bowl. Sound familiar? Why was Dave’s defense in Dallas so much better? The biggest reason was probably Emmitt Smith. When a team only gets the ball twice or three times a quarter and they have to drive down the field in 5 or 10 yard increments - it makes it hard to score. That’s why Dallas had the number one defense that year. The Bears’ runners have not had the same consistent excellence of Emmitt Smith. In fact, the Bears’ runners have been average at best. The other reason has been the rule changes regarding blocking by the offensive linemen. With these changes it’s hard for the four down lineman to get enough pressure on the quarterback. This pressure is important in Dave’s scheme, because it forces the other team to make mistakes. Without those mistakes it becomes a bend and break defense. And , if they blitz to get more pressure on the quarterback they leave themselves open to the "big play". The Bears have worked to solve this problem two ways. They have worked to upgrade their secondary by bringing in Marty Carter, Walt Harris, and now Tom Carter a free agent from Washington. Now if they need to blitz , they have some corners and safeties who can cover one-on-one. By signing Brian Cox, and playing Barry Minter and Sean Harris they have three linebackers who can blitz. Harris has never been a regular and I’m going by what he did in college, and Minter by what he’s done in a limited role. Is it enough? Last year we jumped to 13th in the league and that was with Cox out half the year and Harris and the now departed Woolford hurt about half the time. The defense would be better if the offense was better. Without a tight end and at times no healthy runners, it was hard to get the kind of running game that keeps your defense off the field. This will need to improve if the defense is to improve. The Bears will also need to get better on special teams. Punter Todd Sauerbrun started to show the leg strength that they drafted him for, now they need fast enough people on special teams to get down the field to cover his kicks. This brings us to what the Bears will be looking for in the draft. They need in no particular order - Everything. The positions that don’t need an immediate upgrade, need more depth. Their most serious needs are at free safety and tight end. Mark Carrier, the current free safety has lost some speed and can’t man-to-man cover as is often required in the Bears’ defenses. His replacement, Anthony Marshall, might not have the speed to play free safety, so that is one position that could be upgraded very easily in this draft. The problem with our tight ends is that we can’t keep them healthy. We managed to injure four tight ends, some more than once. There seems to be an abundance of them in this draft. I say pick whoever seems to be the healthiest. Seriously there are four tight ends who would be a definite improvement over what we have now, we should pick one. Most of the Bear fans feel that they need to get better on the defensive line. The problem with that is that the defensive lineman in this draft are a lot like what they have now. Either slightly undersized projects or big and very raw. The only lineman who could step in and make a big difference is Darrell Russell, who will probably be taken by the Jets with the first pick. There are several guys who could be good or great down the road, but my guess is that they will go for surer things early and take some chances on defensive lineman late in the draft. Since they pretty much need everything, they will probably use the old best-athlete-available method. Dave Wannstedt has also come out and said that he is not looking for long term projects, they need to contribute right away. They will draft a lot like last year, go for college production over combine numbers. Having said that, watch for them to go after guys with speed. Most of these picks are going to be on special teams and the Bears had trouble covering kick-offs and punts. They’ll use their later round picks on DB’s, LB’s, wide receivers, and runningbacks who can get downfield in a hurry. Here’s my best guesses for the Bears picks: ROUND 2 #40 OVERALL: Damon Jones T.E. While it’s a tough call between him and Freddie Jones, Damon is probably the one player at this point of the draft who could step in and start tomorrow. He also has the size and blocking ability to make the Bears running-game better. He could be the most productive pick the Bears take under Wannstedt or the biggest bust, and that’s saying something! Others considered: Defensive lineman Kenny Holmes( probably will not be there), Antonio Anderson, Nathan Davis, Marcellus Wiley. ROUND 3 #69 OVERALL: Dexter Coakley L.B/Safety He isn’t the Bears biggest need, in fact he’s not the biggest anything, he’s 5’ 91/2" and 215 pounds, but he’s just too productive to pass up. Check out these numbers, Freshman year: 159 tackles, Sophomore: 155 tackles, 22 for loss and 8 sacks, Junior: 165 tackles, 13 for loss, 14 Q.B. pressures, 7 forced fumbles and 2 interceptions in 13 games, Last year: 166 tackles, 11 for loss, 4 sacks, 1 interception, and 3 passes broken up in 11 games. The Bears are one of the few teams that could use him at linebacker and since he runs a 4.47 40yd dash, he would be a terror on special teams. He could go later or earlier but Miami has 3 picks in the 3rd round and I don’t think he will get by them. Others considered: DT Myron Elzy, OT Paul Wiggins, CB Ty Howard. ROUND 4 #105 OVERALL: Chris Carter SAFETY Has good size and the speed to play free safety in the Bears defense. Is also smart and a student of the game. He needs to be more aggressive in his tackling, but he has all the skills you could want. After they draft him, he, Marty, Tom, and Antonio Carter will back up Johnny Cash on tour. #108 OVERALL: Pratt Lyons D.E./D.T. He’s a guy who with a little work in the weight room, could develop into a very good football player. Was very productive at Troy St. He might not be here, so if not I would say they would take Chris Dishman G. Others considered: Calvin Branch RB, George Jones RB, Will Blackwell WR, Derrick Mason WR, Scott Rehburg OT. ROUND 5 #141 OVERALL: Raleigh Roundtree OT Good project for Tony Wise. Has the size and quick feet. Needs to hit the weight room and get better technique. He may be a stretch here, but is one of the few prospects that aren’t projected to guard, at this point. Others considered: Pat Williams DT ( if Lyons is not picked), Keith Poole WR, Chad Mackey WR, Randy Kinder RB (token N.D.er).
ROUND 6 #173 OVERALL Mark Smith DL Mark had surgery on his knee before last year’s season and didn’t have a great year as a result, but he has the talent to be great, if his knee is healed. Could go much higher.
ROUND 7 # 211 OVERALL Nate Jacquet WR Has all the speed and athleticism you could want. Only one year at WR , was a DB before that. Start on special teams and then go from there. Could even be 3rd down back.
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