When you look at the Chicago Bears roster, they really need to continue to address the defensive line and right tackle. It is almost impossible to find a veteran tackle now, so they are shifting toward picking one in the top ten.
If they do not draft an edge rusher in the top ten, they really need to continue to find solutions in free agency. They can still go that way in the draft, but they have to hit the position in both areas. The pickings are slim, and they are not going to find an easy answer.
3. Chicago Bears should have interest in Rasheem Green
Rasheem Green is definitely a player to keep your eyes on. We know that Ryan Poles like to bet on free agents who may still have their best play ahead of them. Green is 25 today, and will be 26 next season. He is the youngest of any potential impact free-agent.
Still, he has five years of NFL experience. He was slow to come on for Seattle, but was still the age of most college students. He picked up a bit in 2021 and then signed with the Texans in 2022. He flew under the radar because the Texans are not a team you watch every week.
However, if you stack up his production against any Chicago Bears rusher, he is the best one. He is now at the time in free agency where there is not going to be a big deal lurking. So, the Bears could come in over the top with an extra million or so, and get the deal done. They would add a young rusher who is better than anything they had. Why not?
2. Is Shaq Lawson a former first rounder for Chicago Bears to bet on?
Shaq Lawson was a former first round pick back in 2016, but he still only going to be 29 this season. He has churned out a nice career as an edge rusher, mainly because he can set the edge, and gets a hustle sack here and there.
Fans are going to be looking for Yannick Ngakoue, but with Matt Eberflus that sounds so unlikely. He is a player who sells out for sacks and does not defend the run. He does not fit the HITS principles. Lawson does, and that is why he was getting work in the playoffs for the Bills.
For comparison, Ngakoue had a 43.7 run defense grade, per PFF last year, and his career high in this area was 59. Last season Lawson was at 64.1, and his career high is 81.1. There is a much better run defender here, and right now, that is what the team needs. He did add four sacks, and 23 pressures last season as well.
They can find upside as a pass rusher in the draft. Lawson is a better locker room fit, a run defender, and a player who buys into the coaching scheme. This fit would make sense, and the Chicago Bears should have an interest in Shaq Lawson.
1. Chicago Bears should take a chance on Oshane Ximenes
If you are talking about a Ryan Poles signing, it is Oshane Ximines. Ximines may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time with the Giants. As a rookie, he put up 25 pressures on 502 snaps.
Things were promising, but he lost his second season due to shoulder surgery. With Joe Judge running the show, he apparently got into his dog house. Ximines barely played early in 2021 coming back from his injury, then he was inactive for most of the second half of the season.
Fortunately for him, Judge was fired, and the Giants still needed him. He recorded three sacks and 15 pressures, but was in a rotational role. Still, like most of these guys, when you compare them to Trevis Gipson and Dominique Robinson you can make the case that they belong on this team.
Ximines is just 26 years old and coming off of his rookie salary deal, so that fits the Ryan Poles style of free agent. His best year was his rookie season, injuries and coaching issues delayed his progress, but the more solid play could be coming soon. The Chicago Bears have to have their eyes on Oshane Ximines from the New York Giants.