Chicago Bears: How good can they be next season?
By Ryan Fedrau
What needs to be done in 2020?
If the Bears can look at 2019 as a learning experience, they’ll bounce back in 2020. It’s going to take a lot of work during these next few months because the football season starts in a few months.
We will have free agency and the draft to look forward to, as of right now. Between the two, the Bears need to find a tight end, bulk up the offensive and defensive line, get a true running back, and add to the wide receiver core.
I’ll break down all of that for those who are confused. The tight end position needs work. Burton isn’t going to work for Chicago. They either need to trade him or cut him before the season starts. They’ll have a few solid tight ends to look at during the NFL draft.
There also will be some free agent ones to go for. Austin Hooper and Eric Ebron are two players to look at. In the draft, Thaddeus Moss and Cole Kmet could both be solid players in the NFL.
Bulking up the offensive and defensive line can happen in the draft or in free agency. They need to add depth to both sides of the ball. The offensive and defensive lines both had a lot of injuries in 2019. That causes a lot of problems for teams. If they can add healthy guys for both sides, they’ll have no excuses for poor play.
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A true running back is a power back who is there to run the football down a team’s throat. The Bears had that with Howard, but they traded him away for dirt cheap. It’s almost impossible but Derrick Henry will be a free agent. If the Bears can steal him, he’ll automatically make them a Super Bowl contender.
For realistic free-agent options, the Bears should look at bringing back Jordan Howard or signing Kenyan Drake. In the draft, if Jonathan Taylor falls to the Bears’ draft pick, they’ll be fools not to take him. If not Taylor, they should look at Zack Moss. Both players could make the Bears better.
Adding to the wide receiving core needs to be done in free agency. Chicago can’t draft someone late and hope they turn out to be studs. A.J. Green or Randall Cobb could add that fix to the lineup that the Bears need.