The Chicago Bears desperately needed some help in the trenches. Their pass rush left plenty to be desired last season, so making a run at a veteran pass rusher should've been one of the top orders of business.
They didn't do so early on in the offseason, and their late-camp solution wasn't necessarily encouraging. They signed former Detroit Lions DE Marcus Davenport, who has missed extensive time in recent years.
That's why it's not much of a surprise to hear that he hasn't even suited up for the team yet. He hasn't practiced, and judging by Ben Johnson's words ahead of joint practices with the Tennessee Titans, it might be a while before we get to see him on the field — if at all.
The Bears may have dropped the ball with Marcus Davenport
"He's not dealing with anything", Johnson told the media. "We want to make sure we're being smart with him. He's a player that's missed a lot of time over the last three years. So he's being integrated into the program from conditioning, to strength program, drill work, and we're slowly ramping him into it."
This pretty much sums it up. The Bears knew what they were getting themselves into when they signed Davenport, yet they still went through with it. Truth be told, that decision was hard to justify at the time, and it has only gotten worse now.
Taking a player who's not even in condition to play is a head-scratcher. That's a luxury teams with a well-established pass-rushing corps can afford, but that's definitely not the case in Chicago — not in the slightest.
If anything, Dennis Allen's defense needed a bonafide headhunter to take some pressure off Montez Sweat. Davenport is experienced and undeniably talented, but availability is the best of abilities, and he's rarely been available.
The Bears are playing a dangerous game by failing to acknowledge their glaring defensive flaws ahead of next season. One-dimensional teams rarely get the job done when it matters most, regardless of their talent or coaching staff.
At this point, it wouldn't be much of a surprise to see Davenport spend extensive time on the practice squad before ultimately getting a chance to suit up. It's nice to see the team be patient with him to avoid injury, but that's not an encouraging omen of what might be to come once he's finally out there.
The Bears have the tools to replicate last year's success and prove that they weren't just a one-year wonder. That said, general manager Ryan Poles can't afford to rest on his laurels and fail Caleb Williams by not making the necessary moves to improve the defense if they struggle early on in the season.
| More Bears on DaWindyCity |
Add us as a preferred source on Google