Just four days and change left to preview the Chicago Bears draft. so if you’re getting overkill of NFL Draft talk, and Chicago Bears draft talk, trust me I feel ya. We know the Bears will likely go safety first or defensive tackle. They’ll go defense in their first two picks, maybe the first three. When you consider the depth in the class at defensive tackle and safety and the Bears picking 14th and 55th, we won’t see the Bears taking a back-up to Matt Forte until the mid to later rounds.
ESPN Analyst Jon Gruden broke down the Chicago Bears draft on conference call.
“Knowing Marc Trestman, from having worked with Marc in the past, I’m sure he’s looking for a young back that has some similar traits to Forte. To be a running back for the Bears in this current system, you have to be sharp, have to be able to handle a lot of offense, picking up blitzes, understanding protections, audibles. You got to be sharp and you got to be able to catch the football and do something after you do,” Gruden said.
“Then you got to be able to run an array of different runs, shotgun runs, pistol formation plays, from the I-formation, you name it. I’m sure Marc Trestman is looking to find another back because they lost a pretty good back in free agency.”
So in this Chicago Bears draft, it’s a moderate position of need. Not high, not low.
There was not a running back selected in the first round last year. There may not be one this year. No running backs were among the 30 players invited to the draft.
Said Gruden: “the game used to be set up offensively around a strong running game. If you wanted a strong running game, you needed to get a great running back. I can remember Bo Jackson that my dad drafted in Tampa Bay, Herschel Walker, those types of backs. That was how your offense was set up, to run the football, be a good play-action team, et cetera.
“Those times obviously have changed.”
“When you look at the running backs in college football, you never know if they’re ever going to get the ball because the quarterback pulls it out of his stomach half the time and keeps it himself. Carlos Hyde, (Ka Deem) Carey at Arizona. It’s hard to evaluate them.”
Hyde will be the first back taken, but it might not be until late second round. Yes, he allegedly beat a woman. But since the charges were dropped I guess he doesn’t have any red flags.
Hyde and Carey will be long gone by the time we see the Chicago Bears draft a back this year. The kid from LSU might be there, but I think realistically, in going with Gruden’s evaluation, it’s going to be one of the two Pac 12 kids, De’Anthony Thomas of Oregon or Bishop Sankey of Washington. Either would make a a great value in the 4th or 5th round.
I’d like Thomas, yes, even though his name is creepily similar to a big time Chicago Bears draft bust, Anthony Thomas.Because they’re two totally different backs. De’Anthony is a speedster from South Central Los Angeles that has transcendent quickness and ridiculous bursts. He could have a huge impact in the return game too. Might be a good replacement for Devin Hester there.
He needs to do some growing up though. His maturity isn’t ideal.
I’d like him more because of the home run threat; the excitement level. But Sankey is the better fit. He fits the system better.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. A former NBC Chicago and Washington Times writer, he’s also a regular commentator on talk radio all across the country. Banks has also been featured on the History Channel. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)