Chicago Bears Draft Prospects: Outside Linebackers

The Chicago Bears are in need of outside linebacker help. They have several options, from free agency, internally or through the draft. Here are some available outside linebackers should they go through the draft.

The Chicago Bears need to go after an outside linebacker. Willie Young played well, but he detests playing the position. Lamarr Houston may be the one who could get the starting nod alongside Pernell McPhee, but the coaches need to feel he is fully ready to take a full season’s snaps after dealing with a knee injury.

Should the Chicago Bears feel that Houston cannot be the starter, they can decide to hope lightning strikes twice in free agency.

The Bears could decide to go through free agency again, with the money they have to spend (Overthecap.com has them with almost $53 million so far), and try to hit it big again. I wrote about possible options available this offseason last week.

What may be a better move, however, is that the Chicago Bears go after a young stud in the draft, and have control over him at a reasonable price. There are a lot of holes on this team, and the money can be well spent on another position and there are some good, young outside linebackers who can be future stars or solid contributors. 

Even if Houston is ready to start, having a solid backup is essential, as it looks as if Young and/or Sam Acho could be gone. The Bears can draft a linebacker and have him ease into the lineup.

Let’s take a look at some of the outside linebackers available in this year’s NFL draft:

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