Chicago Bears – 2014 Draft Recap

Round 4: RB Ka’Deem Carey, Arizona (5’9, 207) – Grade B

The Bears addressed a position of need with their

4th round pick

and drafted running back Ka’Deem Carey from Arizona to back-up Matt Forte. Carey was very productive at Arizona. In

2012 he led CFB

in rushing yards

(1,929 yards

, 6.3 ypc

, 23 TDs)

and was named an All-American. His numbers were down a little last year but still pretty impressive. Carey finished

3rd in CFB

with

1,885 rushing yards

(5.4 ypc)

and

19 TDs and was

named to the All-American team for the

2nd year in

a row.

Carey’s best traits are his vision and balance. He does a good job finding the hole and accelerating through it. Carey is shifty in the open field and his balance makes him tough to bring down once he gains momentum. Carey runs hard, fights for first downs, and usually falls forward. He has soft hands and is a smooth receiver out of the backfield. He caught

62 passes over the

last

two seasons

, is

one of the better

pass blockers in the draft, and didn’t miss a game due to injury the last

two seasons

.

There is a lot to like with Carey, but there are some reasons he was still available in round 4. His most glaring flaw is a lack of straight-line speed. Carey ran a 4.

7 40 at the combine

and a

4.66 at his pro

day. There aren’t a lot of successful running backs in the NFL with

4.7 speed

. Carey claims that he runs faster than that on the field and he certainly looks faster than

4.7 on tape

.

Another issue with Carey is the spread offense he played in. Is he a product of an un-tempo, spread system? Can he produce in an NFL offense when the lanes aren’t as wide and the defense is much faster? Carey also has had some ball security issues with

6 fumbles

(4 lost)

in

two seasons as a

starter. Lastly, Carey has had some off-field problems with an assault charge against his pregnant girlfriend in 2012 (dropped) and an incident at an Arizona basketball game that led to a 1-game suspension.

Overall I think it was a solid need-based pick. The Bears needed a back-up for Forte and they drafted a consistent, durable RB

with some upside.