Chicago Bears’ Latest 2023 Draft Projection Will Divide People
Expectations for the Chicago Bears are about as low as it gets. Most national experts believe they aren’t a good football team. In fact, the general consensus is they’re one of the worst in the NFL. Much of the pessimism centers around lacking high-end talent on offense and losing several mainstays on defense. As people look ahead to the 2023 draft next April, projections often have the Bears picking in the top five almost every time.
Presuming this somehow comes to pass, the next question is obvious. Which player will they target if picking that high? Ask any Bears fan and most of them will have a similar answer: somebody on the offensive side of the ball. A top talent that can help elevate Justin Fields into being the quarterback he should be. Except Jordan Reid of ESPN doesn’t think they’ll go in that direction. He thinks GM Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus won’t be able to resist one player.
“Jalen Carter, DT, Georgia*
There are some scouts around the league who believe Carter has the most upside in this draft class, and he’s the type of player around whom new GM Ryan Poles could build an entire defensive unit. He had just 3.0 sacks last season, but he was sharing snaps with multiple 2022 first-round picks. Carter consistently lives in the other team’s backfield. A true penetrator as a 3-technique, he’s a wrecking ball with high-level explosiveness, hand power and finishing ability.”
Watch Jalen Carter swim move the right guard, absorb the block from the running back and get to the quarterback all while the right tackle left tackle leans on him in futility. pic.twitter.com/RfzjEIStfc
— Rundown 2021 National Champions (@RundownUga) January 5, 2022
This is called a down south Alarm clock. JALEN CARTER STAND UP????????#GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/Zvk4uoGCXp
— (Not )????????LEE Ring0️⃣ (@HBTFD1) September 25, 2021
A defensive-minded guy still runs Chicago Bears.
Poles might be the GM, but Eberflus runs the team. He sees the game through a defender’s eyes. The Bears will run his version of the 4-3 defense moving forward. It is a variation of the classic Tampa-2 that Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith made famous in the 1990s and 2000s. That system can’t function at its highest level without a capable interior pass rusher. Think Warren Sapp and Tommie Harris. Nobody would mistake free agent signing Justin Jones for being anywhere close to that level. That is why somebody like Carter may be too hard to resist.
It would likely make the Chicago Bears’ defense a lot better. Unfortunately, it won’t make fans happy. They’ve lived their entire lives stuck in a defense-first mindset by this organization. It’s given them one championship across more than 50 years of the Super Bowl era. Winning teams these days need good quarterbacks with potent offenses. Unless Carter looks like the second coming of Aaron Donald, it will be a tough sell by Poles and Eberflus to fans if that ends up being the pick.