You had to figure NFL Draft weekend would be pretty bland for the Bears. After all, they traded their first-round pick to Denver as part of the deal to acquire quarterback Jay Cutler. That move was the big offseason splash, and nothing the Bears did over the weekend even comes close to generating that kind of buzz.
However, I think the Bears did a decent job of drafting some guys who can fill up the bottom half of their roster. Are any of these draftees going to start as rookies? Perhaps not, but several should be capable backups -- as well as contributors on special teams.
In case you missed it, here is a rundown of the players the Bears selected:
Third round
DT/DE Jarron Gilbert 6-5/288/San Jose State
WR Juaquin Iglesias 6-1/210/Oklahoma
Fourth round
DE Henry Melton 6-3/260/Texas
CB D.J. Moore 5-9/192/Vanderbilt
Fifth round
WR Johnny Knox 6-0/185/Abilene Christian
LB Marcus Freeman 6-0/239/Ohio State
Sixth round
S Al Afalava 5-11/213/Oregon State
Seventh round
TE Lance Louis 6-2/303/San Diego State
WR Derek Kinder 6-1/210/Pittsburgh
Coming into the draft, I felt the Bears needed to address the receiving corps and the secondary.
With respect to the receivers they drafted, I hope Iglesias is ready to make an immediate contribution. He has good size, good hands and seems to be a good fit for offensive coordinator Ron Turner's scheme. A guy like Iglesias has the potential to be a good complement to Devin Hester. Hester is a pure speed guy. He's undersized, but he stretches the defense. Once the defense is stretched, Iglesias should be able to operate on the underneath and over-the-middle routes. Iglesias is probably the one potential rookie starter among the draftees. We'll see how quickly he adjusts to life in the NFL.
The other wide receivers the Bears took don't seem like immediate solutions. I've never seen Knox play before in my life. I'm told he has great speed, but coming from Abilene Christian, he's probably a project. Kinder is another big guy, but he has a torn ACL in his injury history. In my mind, he's a longshot for the roster.
I'm a little disappointed the Bears didn't draft a safety higher. I'm not real comfortable with free-agent acquisition Josh Bullocks being handed the job at free safety. Afalava figures to be a special-teams contributor and a backup at a thin position for the Bears. Is he better than Craig Steltz? I'm not convinced. I'm glad they added depth at cornerback with the addition of Moore. Starter Nathan Vasher has had significant injuries the last two years and can't be trusted anymore. Moore had six interceptions at Vanderbilt last season and should contribute in a reserve role as a rookie.
The sleeper in this group? That would be Freeman. I'm a Big Ten guy, and I was always impressed with Freeman when he was at Ohio State. He was overshadowed by overrated former teammate James Laurinaitis, but he has good wheels and he's a sure tackler. The Bears three incumbent linebackers (Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs and Hunter Hillenmeyer) have some age on them. Freeman can probably back up any of the three spots as a rookie, and a couple years down the road he could replace Briggs on the weak side.
And we'll conclude with the video of third-round pick Gilbert jumping out of a swimming pool. Can't argue with the dude's athleticism:
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