Safety in Numbers: Chicago Bears Select SS Brandon Hardin in 3rd Round

Gamblers say “the trend is your friend.”  If you were going to wager on the Chicago Bears selecting a safety in the draft, recent history would suggest that you’d be a winner.  On Friday night, the Bears kept that streak going by selected strong safety Brandon Hardin out of Oregon State in the 3rd round with the 79th overall pick.

The Bears have selected a safety in each draft 8 years running.  That tells us they haven’t been very successful in finding an answer to Mike Brown.

Here’s a list of safeties from Brad Biggs, including draft picks, trades and free agent acquisitions:

"Let’s follow spinning carousel of safeties for #Bears under Lovie Smith. Draft picks with 3rd rounder Brandon Hardin going back to 2005 – Chris Conte, Major Wright, Al Afalava, Craig Steltz, Kevin Payne, Danieal Manning, Chris Harris. Don’t forget woeful trade for Adam Archuleta and regrettable signing of Brandon Meriweather. Team has thrown numbers at position but has yet to solve it. They long for days of Mike Brown and Tony Parrish."

Hardin is another risky pick for the Bears.  He sat out the entire 2011 season with a broken shoulder which required surgery.  He also suffered a broken wrist in 2008.  I didn’t know that Jerry Angelo was making picks for the Bears again.  Did Jerry leave a note in Phil’s desk about drafting guys pre-injured?

Hardin appears to have all the physical tools – good size and excellent speed – but the question is whether he’ll be healthy to stay on the field.

The Bears announced that Hardin will play strong safety, leaving him to compete with 3rd round safety draftee Major Wright, from the 2010 draft class.