Chicago Bears – Favorite Free Safety targets
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Round 5 (#156) – Tre Boston, North Carolina (6’0, 204): Boston has great ball skills (9 INTs last two seasons) and improved every year at NC. He’s not a burner, but has good instincts and if he continues to develop Boston has the potential to be a starting NFL free safety. Boston is solid enough against the run to move over to strong safety if needed and he should be a better center-fielder in coverage than Conte from day 1.
Round 6 (#183) – Johnathan Dowling, Western Kentucky (6’3, 190): Boom or bust prospect. Dowling is a better athlete then you would normally find at WKU, he started out at Florida before being dismissed for “authority issues”. Dowling has great size for a safety, good ball skills, and a knack for forcing turnovers (9 INTs, 8 forced fumbles in 2 seasons). He has an issue with missing tackles due to his penchant for head-hunting, but is a legit enforcer in the middle. Dowling has the talent of a 2nd or 3rd rounder with the only concern being his willingness to accept coaching, stemming from his incident with Florida coaches over 3 years ago. Dowling has the chance to be a Mike Brown type play-maker at free safety, but there is some risk due to off-field / mental issues. He’s well worth the risk this late in the draft.
Round 6 (#191) – Christian Bryant, Ohio St (5’9, 198): Undersized and coming off a serious ankle injury, but when healthy Bryant was a well-rounded safety who is good vs both the run and pass. He displayed great instincts, good closing speed, fluidity in coverage, and sound tackling technique. Underrated safety prospect who could contribute right away in sub packages and push both Conte and Jennings for the starting spot. Bryant plays bigger than he is listed and is an instinctive ball-hawk.
UFA – Nickoe Whitley, Mississippi St (6’0, 205): Ultra-aggressive safety who constantly goes for the big-hit. His violent play tends to get Whitley in trouble at times, he racked up far too many personal fouls, including one for punching an opposing player. He needs to get his emotions under control, but his fiery playing style does cause plenty of turnovers; Whitley had 15 interceptions and 5 forced fumbles during his time with the Bulldogs. He has been injury prone with a ruptured achilles in 2011 and a torn ACL in 2013. The ACL tear happened in week 3 last season and he played through it the rest of the year! That’s pretty impressive. Whitley would bring toughness to a Bears secondary that has lacked it the last few years. Whitley might not have the talent to crack the starting lineup, but he could play in sub packages and will be a fan favorite right away.
Twitter: @MikeFlannery_