Starting Roster

[adam]

As of today, it looks like there are only a couple of "starting" positions that need to be settled. Looking at the offense, RG seems like the only position where there is not someone locked in at least for now. The WR room still looks like it could use one more veteran to add to the competition with Jones, Newsome, and Moore.  The RB room is a strength and the TE room has enough. So outside of RG, maybe LT if Borom struggles, and another WR. Is there anything else they can do to improve in post-draft FA?

QB Fields
RB Montgomery
FB Blasingame > RB/WR/TE in subs
TE Kmet
WR Mooney
WR Pringle
RT Jenkins
LT Borom
OC Patrick
LG Whitehair
RG Jones/Dozier*

RB Herbert/Evans
WR Jones/Newsome/Moore
TE Horsted/O'Shaughnessy

For defense, it feels very similar to the offense. If you plug Gordon and Brisker into the starting lineup, the two biggest holes now seem to be SAM and NT. The Bears have a few options at both, but I could see them bringing in some vets to compete in those spots. However, that is really it. The secondary now looks like a strength if you have guys like Graham and Shelley as subs or rotational guys. 

DE Quinn
DE Muhammad/Gipson/Robinson
DL Jones/Blackson/Edwards
DL Tonga/Alufohai*
LB Smith 
LB Morrow
LB Sanborn/Alexander/Avery*
CB Johnson
CB Gordon
S Jackson
S Brisker

DB Young/Graham

 

For IDL, guys like Hicks, Ogunjobi, Fox, Richardson, and Lotulelei.

At LB, you still have Schobert, Hitchens, Barr, Kwiatkoski, Wright or Bostic/Ogletree. Some would fit pretty well in the Sam role.

At RG, Schofield is still out there. Eric Fisher is still out there for OT, so are Nate Solder and Daryl Williams. 

Lastly, at WR, Humphries, Wilson, Beasley are still out there for the slot. Then you have guys like Cole, Sharpe, Hurns, Fuller or Stills on the outside.

I would love to see at least one from each group get signed. Bring back Hicks or sign Ogunjobi knowing he may not be available for the first month. Sign one of the LBs, Schofield at RG and someone like Fisher for LT. Then Borom goes back to Swing Tackle. Bring in at least one of those WRs, which would raise the floor of the WR room a notch. 

The Bears have the 6th most effective cap space, which puts them in a good position to bring in several of these guys. 10 teams have less than $5M, which would basically take them out of bringing in any new players above the league minimum. 

The Bears could bring in 5 new players, with an average cap hit of $2.5M and still have some operating cash for the season. 

Even addressing 2-3 of those positions with some vets would make me feel pretty good about the roster going into this season.

[Stinger226]

Poles said they really won't be able to evaluate the OL until they get them in pads. So LT has Borom, Davenport, and Braxton Jones as our options. They could also move Jenkins back there. RG has Dozier, Mustifer, Thomas and Ja'Tre Carter. So if they bring in anyone it will be at RG. Actually Daryl Williams could play both OT spots and RG if he had to. So he might be the best option because of his flexibility.

What they have to do is bring in a X WR. Who out there that has better potential than St Brown? Landry and Beasley are Slot WRs..TY Hilton and Will Fuller are the best options . I wouldn't trust Fuller to stay healthy. So do you want St Brown or TY Hilton.I would just go with St Brown. 

We need a better option at 3T , Jones and  Edwards or Sam Kamara. Who ? I would say they bring Ogunjobi back, he hasn't taken any visits to other teams, so maybe it's already been stated.

I think the SAM LB is already on the roster. Johnson or Sanborn. Maybe Mack or Snowden can play there.

[AZ54]

I agree with the 3 positions of need.  I'd say adding someone to both Oline and Dline are the most likely changes we'll see.  It' hard to say for which Oline position at this point.  SLB might well be on the roster right now.   Among the WR options I'd prefer Ty Hilton but I'm not sure they'll do anything there and might just be content to share snaps out there among St. Brown and occasionally Jones.  How good of a run blocker is St. Brown? 

We have a good sense of what Poles wanted to do on Oline because of the FAs he pursued and then the drafted players.  While we know they are not content with the WR group I don't have a good feel for what they'd be willing to do to help it from here, if anything.   

I've been wondering what is Poles' next decision point on this.  We've had the rookie mini-camp and the Oline prospects looked good (meaning they just fit the zone scheme and can run around in shorts).  OTA offseason workouts: May 16-17, May 19, May 23-24, May 26, June 6-7, June 9.   Mandatory minicamp: June 14-16.     Or does he wait until the pads come on in training camp.   I would say they'll have some idea if they have to do something at WR from the OTAs.   Dline and Oline don't know if he waits until camp.   There is also the possibility that someone who really fits what we need gets cut post Jun 1st after other teams see their rookies in OTAs..  

[Stinger226]

In Indys defense last yr. The MLB, WLB, Slot Corner, 3T tackle were the top tacklers on the team. The starting SAM on the team was Zaire Franklin and he only saw the field 18% of the time. Even without a clear starter designated at SAM, the rotational  3 T is the weakest spot on the defense. 

As a team they only had 33 sacks. Buckner led at 7, Al-Q Muhammad was second with 6 and another DE had 4 ,  Kwity Paye. 

If Ogunjobi does come back here , our weakness disappears, otherwise Jones only had 3 sacks last year. Even if he ascends, 6-7  sacks is all you could hope for. 

Flus has never had this kind of talent in the pass rush. Quinn, Gibson, Al-Q Muhammad and hopefully Ogunjobi, if he comes back. I can see Jones sliding over to the  NT starter if Ogunjobi does come back, at least they gives you some pass rush ability at that spot.