Stale Draft Bears: Top 5 Draft Mistakes of the Last 10 Years
#2-Dan Bazuin 2007, 2nd Rd #30, DE
Who??? Exactly. The Bears came into the 2007 season as the defending NFC champs mainly because of their defense. That is one reason why this one was a huge head scratcher. With Adewale Ogunleye, Alex Brown and Mark Anderson all in the rotation at end….why were the Bears drafting another end? It wasn’t like this was a steal that fell to the Bears as some mock drafts had him going in the 4th round. Injuries plagued Bazuin as he never even made it onto the field with the Bears and was quickly cut in 2008. When you draft a position that was not needed, you reach to get him, you use a 2nd round pick, then he never sees the field…EVER… you earn the title as the 2nd worst Bears draft pick of that last 10 years. This was a large reason why the team regressed dramatically after the 2006 Super Bowl.
#1-Cedric Benson 2005, 1st Rd #4, RB
Some may think that this is too low, but this ranking is personal to me. You would think that a young kid out of college would embrace the fact that he was drafted by a legendary franchise and follow right behind hall of fame backs like Gale Sayers and Sweetness. Instead, Cedric had a bad attitude from the start. Not only did he have a bad attitude and several injuries, but it was pretty apparent from the beginning that he was slow and could not make defenders miss. When he could not accept the fact that Thomas Jones was a better back, he pouted and poisoned the team with his bad energy. The scouting reports all had questions surrounding his attitude, pass blocking ability and receiving ability. Even though he was a 1st round projection, it was pretty apparent that this was the definition of a one dimensional back. Well, he became a zero dimensional back with the Bears. All of these factors combined with a wasted 4th overall pick make this a no-brainer to me. It’s safe to say that Cedric will never be welcome in this city again and may be charged double for his cocktails. On a side note, Aaron Rodgers was taken 20 picks later (sorry, I couldn’t resist).
Honorable mentions that just missed the list….
Jarron Gilbert 2009, 3rd Rd, #4
Juaquin Iglesias 2009, 3rd Rd, #35
Mark Bradley 2005, 2nd Rd, #7
Major Wright 2010, 3rd Rd, #11