Chicago Bears: Best edge rush options in 2018 NFL Draft

Lorenzo Carter

Georgia

Outside linebacker

Carter is one of the more intriguing prospects in this draft. He lit up the combine workouts with his athletic prowess, doing well in just about every category he participated in. Carter’€™s a long, rangy, athletic linebacker with an explosive get-off and elite level straight-line speed.

The guy that Carter is often compared to is former Georgia Bulldog teammate and current Bear Leonard Floyd. Both guys while in that Georgia defense played all over the place in the front seven. At the next level however, Carter’s best position is at outside linebacker in either a 3-4 or 4-3 defensive front.

Like Floyd when he came out, Carter is still a work-in-progress as a pass rusher. He’s sort of a one-trick pony because of his lack of upper and lower body strength. Instead, Carter relies heavily on speed and quickness when asked to rush the passer.

When looking at Carter’s low sack totals, you really have to take it with a grain of salt. The coaches there never really locked down Carter to one position or role on that defense. Instead, they used his speed and athleticism to their advantage.

With the Bears, Carter can lock into the outside linebacker position. The signing of Lynch allows the Bears to gradually bring along a young talent like Carter. He is a projected second-round pick, and he has the potential contribute as a situational pass rusher in year one. With the right coach and situation, he can eventually develop into a consistent dangerous outside edge rusher.

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The Bears believe they have that “right coach and situation” regardless of their choice at edge rusher, believe me. The staff they have assembled is lightyears ahead of the staff previously in place, and Fangio knows it. The freedom he will be given under Matt Nagy will bring this group to a completely different level in 2018, and one of these above players will hopefully be a reason why.