An Updated Look at The Chicago Bears’ Defensive Depth Chart
Published by Ed Leiser on April 30, 2010
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears have been busy over the past several days, tweaking their roster—especially their defense—in the hopes of erasing a dismal 7-9 season.
At 337 yards allowed per game, last year’s defense ranked 17th out of 32 NFL teams, so one would think there were necessary changes to be made to this unit.
The Bears got off to a fast start when free agency opened, inking superstar defensive end Julius Peppers to a six-year, $91.5 million contract.
They added depth along the secondary as well, first with veteran cornerback Tim Jennings, and then a pair of draft picks in Florida safety Major Wright and Kansas State cornerback Joshua Moore.
The draft also yielded former Northwestern standout defensive end Corey Wootton.
The Bears continued to address the secondary this week, bringing safety Chris Harris back to Chicago and sending safety Kevin Payne packing.
With all of the new faces, it’s easy to get players mixed up and even easier to forget what their depth chart might look like.
Here’s how I have it figured out, from top to bottom.
Defensive Ends
Julius Peppers
Peppers is one of the best defensive ends in the NFL. The Bears hope the guaranteed $42 million is worth the gamble.
Mark Anderson
The 12 sacks in 2006 seem like a fluke, but Anderson is key to the Bears’ pass rush. Without veteran Alex Brown looking over his shoulder, Anderson could be the ultimate X-factor in this defense.
Israel Idonije
“Izzy” had an outside chance at winning a starting position at end, but the Peppers signing cast him aside for the time being. A class act all the way, Idonije is one of the good guys on this Bears defense.
Henry Melton
What can we make of this former Texas Longhorn running back? Likely won’t be much of a factor, unless defensive line coach Rod Marinelli can work his magic.
Corey Wooten
The Northwestern product should compete for playing time at some point in his Bears career. His injury history (he tore his ACL against Missouri in 2009) can not be ignored, however.
Lawrence Wilson
Who’s this guy? Likely just an invitee to training camp, the former Ohio State Buckeye won’t crack the 53-man roster.
Defensive Tackles
Tommie Harris
The three-time Pro Bowler could benefit from Julius Peppers’ inevitable double-teams. Harris is not the same player he was two or three years ago, with injury and apathy his main culprits.
Anthony Adams
Adams had 39 tackles in 16 games last season for the Bears. He’s a steady, durable tackle. Nothing more, nothing less.
Jarron Gilbert
Gilbert gained fame with his famous YouTube clip, in which he jumps out of a pool, but Bears’ fans have likely forgotten all about him—he only played in four games last season. He’ll have to deliver on his high draft selection.
Marcus Harrison
With 52 tackles in 32 career games, Harrison provides a big body to spell Harris and Adams and keep the line fresh. He can also be used as a starter.
Israel Idonije
Idonije is listed here as well, because of his versatility all over the defensive line. His value to this Bears team can not be measured.
Matt Toeaina
Will be in a dog-fight to make the 53-man team, but Toeaina provides nice depth on a practice squad if nothing else.
Linebackers
Brian Urlacher
The 31-year-old has definitely lost a step, but there’s no denying his importance to the morale of this Bears’ defense. There was a black hole where No. 54 should have been last season.
Lance Briggs
The best defensive player in Chicago continues to rack up the Pro Bowl selections.
Hunter Hillenmeyer
Hunter will be in competition yet again for a starting role, as he’ll battle Pisa Tinoisamoa and Nick Roach. This is a very deep group, and Hillenmeyer is valuable wherever he winds up.
Nick Roach
Roach played well last year in a banged-up linebackers group, tallying 70 tackles and two sacks. He’s started nine games in his brief NFL career, but could start much more next season.
Pisa Tinoisamoa
The second starting linebacker to go down with injury last season, Pisa only managed to see action in two games. With improved health, he’ll be in the mix for playing time.
Tim Shaw
Shaw joined the Bears mid-season, but made his presence felt on special teams with 21 tackles. Expect more of the same from Shaw this year.
Darrell McClover
He’ll be another long-shot to make the roster with the depth of this position.
Cornerbacks
Charles Tillman
Tillman battled injury yet again to produce another solid season in Chicago. He won’t get a ton of interceptions, but he is a solid tackler and plays very physical.
Zackary Bowman
Bowman picked off six passes last year and stayed healthy—rare, for him—for 16 games. There’s some depth here, but Bowman needs to stay healthy.
Tim Jennings
Jennings, the former Indianapolis Colt, will be used as a spot-starter or nickleback for the Bears. His experience over Corey Graham and D.J. Moore will be useful.
Corey Graham
Graham was all over the field two years ago, totaling 82 tackles. He only notched 34 last year, but he didn’t see the field as much either. He’ll add depth to the position in the event Tillman or Bowman go down.
D.J. Moore
Moore is a small corner who hardly saw the field last year; he’s going to have to earn his roster spot when training camp opens.
Joshua Moore
There only figures to be room for one Moore, and Joshua hopes it’s him on the Bears’ roster. He’s bigger than D.J., but is he any better?
Woodny Turenne
Woodny will have to do something outrageous to get a spot on the roster.
Cornelius Brown
See above comment.
Safety
Chris Harris
Welcome back, Chris. Sorry we foolishly traded you three years ago. The Bears hope Harris brings his 2007 game with him. That year, Harris forced an NFL-best eight fumbles—too bad it came in a Carolina Panther uniform.
Major Wright
The Bears’ top draft pick of 2010, Wright will be given every opportunity to start from day one. His reputation as a play-maker will make him an exciting player to watch.
Danieal Manning
Manning has value to the Bears not only at safety, but also as a possible nickleback and a kick returner. He racked up an impressive 92 tackles a year ago.
Al Afalava
As a rookie last year, Afalava did enough to earn a starting job in week one, but faded down the stretch. With better talent ahead of him, look for Afalava to do his damage on special teams.
Craig Steltz
Steltz is just not an NFL-caliber safety; he’ll have to play well early and often to make the team, but he’s happy Kevin Payne is now in St. Louis, as he’ll have one less man to compete with.
Josh Bullocks
The veteran from Nebraska could be looking for another job in a few months. He only saw action in 10 games last season, and didn’t do a whole lot in any of them.
Quentin Scott
Unless several ahead of him falter, Scott will be looking at jumping onto a practice squad somewhere.
Obviously, there won’t be 34 defenders on the opening roster for the Bears, so many of these names will be long gone by the time the Bears play the Detroit Lions in Week One.
There’s always the possibility of adding new bodies to the roster, so this list of 34 could change even more, but the bulk of the tweaking appears to be set, at least from a defensive perspective.
There’s the obvious star power in Peppers, Tommie Harris, Urlacher, and Briggs, but the key will be the lesser-known guys, like Jarron Gilbert, Tim Jennings, and Nick Roach.
Players like that give the Bears depth, and as we saw last year, any team can be hit hard by the injury bug.
They’ll have to cross their fingers from a health standpoint, but also need better production from Tommie Harris and Brian Urlacher.
Harris in particular could finally have a Pro Bowl season again, as Julius Peppers will command all of the attention of opponent’s offensive lines.
This is an aging group, and their collective window is shrinking by the minute.
Ranking 17th out of 32 teams in yards allowed won’t do the job in 2010.
There’s much room for improvement.
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