It’s safe to say there’s not a whole lot of confidence around the NFL landscape when it comes to the Chicago Bears in 2020. Following a disappointing 8-8 outing where they boasted one of the worst offenses in the league, you wouldn’t expect to find many in their corner.
And following the 2020 NFL Draft, there are some whose expectations have dipped even further.
The Bears fell three spots in NFL.com’s post-NFL draft power rankings, landing at No. 25. Basically, they believe that the Bears are among the eight worst teams in the league.
Thanks in large part to the blockbuster Khalil Mack trade, which cost the Bears their first- and third-round picks in this draft, Chicago only had a pair of selections (two second-rounders) in the first 150 slots. That doesn’t make for easy team building in what could be a make-or-break year for general manager Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy.
They did land the perceived best tight end in the class in Notre Dame’s Cole Kmet. They needed more than a broken-down Jimmy Graham in that positional group. Seven picks later, the Bears landed cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who could have a chance to start on a Chicago defense that might be asked to carry this team again. With a glamour-free draft class in tow, the focus around this team will quickly turn back to Mitchell Trubisky vs. Nick Foles. Remember when kicker was the only position the Bears thought they had to worry about?
The criticism fell on the Bears’ lack of draft capital in the first four rounds, where they had just two second-rounders. But they failed to recognize that Chicago did have first and fourth-round picks — outside linebacker Khalil Mack and quarterback Nick Foles.
It hardly seems worthy of Chicago slipping three spots toward the bottom dwellers in the NFL. After all, there were 16 teams that finished with less wins than the Bears in 2019.
Chicago’s offense was about as bad as a unit could be last season. Even with the concerns surrounding the Bears offense, people forget that Chicago’s dominant defense remains in tact — and, most importantly, they’ll be healthy heading into 2020.
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