The Bear Goggles On Countdown to Kickoff series is now underway. With 90 days to go until the Bears season kicks off, we will highlight the Bears player wearing number 90, defensive lineman Jonathan Bullard.
2016 Season Review
Ryan Pace’s 2016 draft class has gotten rave reviews. With Leonard Floyd, Cody Whitehair and Jordan Howard, Pace appears to have drafted several cornerstone pieces to the future of the franchise. Unfortunately, if you gave an award for Most Disappointing Rookie, that award would probably have to go to Jonathan Bullard.
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Bullard came in with high expectations as a third round draft pick. Some experts had Bullard with a late first round grade, so when the Bears nabbed him in round three, Pace was applauded. As the preseason got underway, Bullard made dominating plays and showed an incredible first step that helped him spend plenty of time in the opponents’ backfield.
Unfortunately for Bullard, expectations and preseason success didn’t translate to the regular season. Bullard had plenty of opportunities to succeed but never consistently put it together. Bullard made an impact play here or there, but never unseated a replaceable Mitch Unrein and was even placed on the inactive list late in the season despite being healthy.
2017 Outlook
The Bears hope 2017 is certainly better than 2016 for Bullard. Bullard has switched from number 74 to his old college number, 90, and hopefully with it, we get the Bullard who had all sorts of success at Florida.
Bullard has worked hard this offseason and has looked sharp in OTAs but the Bears aren’t just gifting a starting position to the second-year defensive end. The Bears brought in Jaye Howard, retained Mitch Unrein, and converted Roy Robertson-Harris from OLB to DE. And of course, let’s not forget Akiem Hicks will be getting almost all the snaps at the other end spot. Translation- playing time is going to be earned, not given.
Vic Fangio thinks Bullard’s rookie season was overwhelming for him and that he will be better prepared in year two. The Bears still expect Bullard to develop into a high-caliber DE that will be part of the organization’s future.
However, if Bullard struggles again early, he could find himself buried on the depth chart and see limited snaps on the field. Hopefully, Bullard makes strides and shows why many thought he was the steal of the draft last season.
Related Story: A Closer Look at Jaye Howard
Future with Bears
Bullard’s long-term future is up in the air. Bullard is signed through 2019 so the Bears still control him for three full seasons. However, if Bullard shows little improvement from his rookie season and isn’t headed on the road to success, he will be gone after 2019, perhaps even 2018.
Bullard is out to prove that last season was nothing more than just a rookie suffering some growing pains. If Bullard makes the strides many believe he can make this season, the Bears have the potential for an outstanding defensive line between Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Bullard and Howard. It’s far too early to make a declarative statement one way or the other about Bullard’s future, but this season will be a big indicator if Bullard will be in the Bears’ future plans or if he’s headed towards earning the “bust” label.