Chicago Bears 2017 Outlook

Read Time:6 Minute, 13 Second

It’s that time of year for Bears fans. You know, the premature-Doomsday talk for the Bears’ upcoming season. The annual and agonizing punchlines about the Bears weak front office, past draft mishaps and the whole “Jay Cutler” era. And in 2017, lets not fail to mention the touch of awful comedy bestowed upon the Bears: how a team who won three games last year ended up with one of the toughest schedules (on paper) this year. It’s business as usual for Chicago as it appears they will once again be expected to be bringing-up-the-rear of the NFC North.

Vegas is giving Chicago a chance to be better than last year, which isn’t saying much after a 3-13 season. The over/under for total wins is set at 5.5, which seems just about right considering this team’s secondary and wide out group. Something that the Bears do have in their favor this season is that they are only traveling an estimated 8300 miles this season, which is the fifth lowest in the NFL this year (in some kind of Chicago Bears luck, they play all four teams who travel less than they do this year). With a young team, this should work out in their favor more than not.

But aside from ridiculous positives this writer is trying to find, let’s look at this offense. The Bears did some pretty confusing things in the off-season but when you sit back and think about it, they did it right. . . at least you’d hope. They signed free agent QB Mike Glennon to a three year $45 million dollar contract, consequently outbidding nobody for his services and then months later they moved up in the draft to take QB Mitch Trubisky out of UNC. A one year starter who the Bears say won’t see the time of day this season. And let’s not forget they went and signed everyone’s favorite klutz, Mark Sanchez. Aye. Best case scenario is that Glennon puts up decent enough numbers and doesn’t get hurt all year. The Bears signed Sanchez for two reasons: to not have Glennon worry about his starting job and to help mentor (yes mentor, look at how good he was as a cheerleader for Dak Prescott in Dallas last year) the young Trubiksy.

The issue here is if Glennon struggles – and there’s a good chance he might – the Bears fans will be screaming for Trubisky or head coach John Fox’s head. Fox is saying Trubisky will remain number three on the depth chart but Fox is also coaching for his job this time around, so if Glennon struggles, he’ll likely put his future in the hands of Trubisky rather than Sanchez.

The Bears offensive line, if healthy, can prove to be one of the better surprises of the 2017 season. As of right now Cody Whitehair remains at center for the Bears, but Hroniss Grasu is healthy now and he was slated to be the starter in 2016 before he got hurt. Whitehair is versatile enough to move around the line and the Bears have shown that they will put Kyle Long, and his intensity, pretty much anywhere along that O-Line. Anything can happen here, and the depth is the most legit that it’s been in a long time.

Jordan Howard enters his sophomore season behind this offensive line and he is looking to prove that his rookie season of over 1300 rushing yards at 5.2 yards a clip was no fluke. The depth at running back is interesting – Jeremy Langford who not too long ago was thought to be their guy moving forward took a step back last season. Kadeem Carey who writer Kevin Fishbain of the Athletic pointed out “has never rushed for 160 yards in a season” may struggle to be anything more than a special teams coverage guy, and rookie Tarik Cohen, all five foot, six inches of him – is a fan and camp favorite.

The wideouts on the Bears are a collection of under achievers looking for one more shot. Kevin White, Markus Wheaton and Kendall Wright all had promising careers at one point, but either due to injury or just “not being as good as advertised” things haven’t worked out their way. Folks love Cameron Meredith, but I’d be careful to fall in love with an undrafted rookie out of Illinois State who probably wouldn’t get a chance to play wide receiver on just about any other roster than this one in the NFL. The Bears know their wide outs are more boom than bust which is why they signed free agent tight end Dion Sims who. . . oh yeah that’s right, he’s a bust too. Zach Miller has been okay at the tight end spot, but everyone expects the Bears to showcase rookie Adam Shaheen early and often.

Defensively, it’s all about what this front seven can do. General manager Ryan Pace didn’t think too hard in the first round of last year’s draft and went with the obvious choice in Leonard Floyd who should – excuse me – will be a defensive star for years to come in this league. Veteran Willie Young has kept himself in Floyd’s ear, pushing him all through camp, apparently. Young is a versatile defensive OLB who should probably get a lot more credit than he gets. Defensive end Akiem Hicks is primed to have a big season this year, which should do wonders for the likes of Jonathan Bullard who needs to come on strong early this year. Jerrell Freeman is in his second year in this defense and will find his footing in it as well. Injuries to Pernell McPhee and Danny Trevathan bring Bears fans close to tears because if those guys were added onto this front seven, it becomes one of the most formidable in the league.

The secondary though. . .

Can we just stop waiting on Kyle Fuller? The corner back had two good games in his rookie year and people treat him as if he’s the next Charles Tillman — Enough! The Bears signed veteran safety Quintin Demps to a three year $13 million dollar contract, with five million guaranteed. It took Demps 8 years to have his best season and he did it with a great defense last year (Texans) – he doesn’t create for himself but is opportunistic. Rookie safety Eddie Jackson from Alabama could be a legit steal in the draft if he can stay healthy. He has all the tools to be a starter in the NFL but injuries in college made his draft stock plummet. There is really nothing to get excited about at the moment with this Bears secondary. There is a lot of youth fighting to get on this squad. Hopefully, at least one of these kids can be lightning in a bottle. The front seven can help make this secondary look a lot better than they actually are.

At the end of it all, Bears fans have got to stay focused on what’s really important here. Developing the youth, and looking toward the future. This season is tough. Minnesota’s a good team and Green Bay is Green Bay. . . The Bears have to focus on the win-able games and build from there. Six wins – maybe even seven are not out of the realm of possibility for this team. Expect a stronger second half of the season from this team and a positive look into 2018.

G.W. Gras

twitter @GeeSteelio