Ranking the Bears' 10 Worst Draft Picks of the Last Decade
7. Will Sutton, DT - 2014
3rd Round, Pick 82
According to NFL.com, Will Sutton entered the 2014 draft as the third-ranked defensive end prospect after testing well at the combine. So, taking a swing at him with the 82nd pick in the draft wasn't a bad idea at the time. Especially since Sutton wasn't going to be thrust into a start role right away.
Sutton played 15 games as a rookie but only started five because he was behind Stephen Pea and Jay Ratliff on the depth chart. Sutton ended his rookie season with 22 combined tackles and two tackles for loss. That is definitely not what the Bears expected when they drafted the number three-ranked defensive tackle in the draft.
Sutton followed up his disappointing rookie season with similar stats in 2015, gathering 23 combined tackles and two tackles for loss. Sutton played in 13 games in 2015 compared to the 15 he played in his rookie season. However, Sutton started seven games in 2015, so his lack of production was definitely more worrying.
2016 was Sutton's last year with the Bears and in the NFL. During that season, he played eight games and started six of them, only gathering 15 combined tackles. His final season cemented him as a bust draft pick for the Bears.
6. Ego Ferguson , DT - 2014
2nd Round, Pick 51
Sutton wasn't the Bears' only attempt at drafting a defensive tackle in 2014. A round earlier, the team selected Ego Ferguson from LSU. Ferguson only had one year of starting experience in college, which is why he was projected to go in rounds 3-4.
So the Bears taking him in round two might have been a reach, but like Sutton, Ferguson wasn't asked to start right away. As a rookie, Ferguson played all 16 games as a rotational defensive tackle gathering 24 combined tackles and two sacks. Those stats are almost identical to Sutton's in his rookie year.
Unfortunately for Ferguson, the comparison ends there because his second season was a disaster, with only four games and three combined tackles. That terrible season was the end of Ferguson's Bears and NFL career, and it puts him down as one of the bigger defensive busts for the team in the last decade.