Taking a quick look at the Bears’ injury report during the 2016 season, names like Kyle Long, Zach Miller, Danny Trevathan, Kevin White and Jeremy Langford are among the many that could have made a profound impact on the season. Pile on Alshon Jeffery’s four-game suspension, and Chicago never stood a chance. Barring more devastating injuries in 2017, the Bears will still need to look to the draft and free agency to fill some key holes in their roster.

Quarterback

After yet another year of Jay Cutler sidelined by injury, Chicago fans everywhere are hoping Ryan Pace and John Fox come to their senses and release Smokin’ Jay. It’s been difficult to let him go in recent years because of his contract, but it’s safe to say that Cutler’s tenure in Chicago is over. That being said, looking to fill that position in-house is nearly impossible.

After both Connor Shaw and Brian Hoyer went down with season-ending injuries and Jay missed extended time with non-throwing thumb and shoulder problems, Matt Barkley came in to lead the pack. He gave Chicago glimmers of hope with his ability to move in the pocket, but 8 TD’s and 14 INT’s later, it’s become obvious that he isn’t the QB of the future.

So, if the quarterback of 2017 isn’t already on the roster, who is he? Well, so far, Patriot’s second string star Jimmy Garoppolo has been the Bears’ biggest target. Robert Kraft will want big money, big names, or a big draft pick for Garoppolo after the performance he put up in Brady’s absence earlier this season, but luckily Chicago has the third overall pick in the upcoming draft.

If the Pats decide that an offer from the Browns is better for them and Garoppolo ends up in Cleveland, the Bears have a couple other options. It’s been highly publicized that Tony Romo will no longer be the quarterback of the future for Dallas, and the Bears are one of several teams that are advertised to make an offer to the vet. Outside of that, trying to pick up one of the very average college QB’s in this very average class of QB’s coming into this draft (Deshaun Watson, Mitch Trubisky) could be a possibility in the second or third round.

Receivers

Circa 2013, the Bears had one of the best receiving cores in the league. Earl Bennett, Marquess Wilson, Devin Hester, Johnny Knox, and the best rated combo in the 2013 season Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery led a team that was a threat downfield. Four years later, the only remaining names from that roster are Marquess Wilson and Alshon Jeffery, and even their future in Chicago is in question.

After trying to ride names like Eddie Royal, Daniel Braverman, and sirs-drops-a-lot Cameron Meredith and Josh Bellamy, the Bears need to either put their current WR’s through the gauntlet in offseason workouts or cut them all loose. The NFL will always have receivers in free agency looking for an opportunity to prove themselves, and this draft has a few big names that are worth a second look. It’ll be up to Pace and Fox to decide if they want to build their receiving core around a franchise QB, or vice versa.

Defense, Defense, Defense

Chicago finished 15th in most defensive statistical categories (total yards, points allowed), but when your offense neglects to put up points, allowing teams to score 24 PPG is unacceptable. To be fair, big named impact players were out on the defensive side of the ball for much of this season (Danny Trevathan, Kyle Fuller, Eddie Goldman), but they’ll need to step it up in 2017 if they want to make any kind of a playoff push.

One of the biggest defensive areas that the Bears need help is on the defensive line. It’s very likely that Alabama’s star DE Jonathan Allen will be on the board when Chicago picks in April, and adding talent like that would be huge for a struggling defensive line. Another player in the upcoming draft that may slip to the second round would be Michigan’s biggest prospect Jabrill Peppers. Other areas of concern for the Monsters of the Midway would be at linebacker and safety, but only time will tell how much emphasis will be put on the defense when there’s so many holes in Chicago’s offensive roster.

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Starting with the 2015 Big Ten Champs, the Michigan State Spartans possibly have the biggest loss to overcome. On the offensive side, the Spartans lost three-year starter Connor Cook, who graduated this spring. In 2015, Cook completed 229 of 408 passes for 3,131 yards, 24 TD’s and only 7 interceptions. In his career at MSU, Cook threw for 9,194 yards and 71 touchdowns, breaking Kirk Cousins’ records as best in Michigan State’s history at the position. At the moment, senior Tyler O’Connor looks to be the presumptive starter at QB for 2016. O’Connor came in against Ohio State last season where he threw 7-12 for 89 yards and a TD.
Continuing in the East, Ohio State will have to overcome the loss of running back Ezekiel Elliott if they want to make a run at the B1G Championship. In the 2016 NFL Draft, Elliott went fourth overall to the Dallas Cowboys. In Zeke’s junior year in 2015, he rushed for 23 TD’s and 1,821 yards on 289 carries, averaging 6.3 yards per carry. He also averaged 7.6 yards per catch on 27 receptions for 206 yards. The presumptive starter for 2016 would be senior Bri’onte Dunn, but he’s only had 287 rushing attempts in his career under Ezekiel Elliott, and according to head coach Urban Meyer, Dunn and freshman Mike Weber are “neck and neck” to take the position in the fall.

On to the East, the Iowa Hawkeyes will look to return to the Big Ten Championship in 2016 after losing to MSU by three points last season. The Hawkeyes’ biggest loss coming off the 2015 season will be three-year starting WR Tevaun Smith, who graduated this spring. Smith finished the 2015 season with 563 yards on 32 receptions, and finished his career at Iowa with exactly 1,500 yards on 102 receptions. Iowa will look to replace Tevaun with seniors Matt VandeBerg and Riley McCarron, as well as sophomore Jerminic Smith.

Finishing in the East, the Wisconsin Badgers will look to replace WR Alex Erickson if they hope to battle through a tough season and get back to the B1G Championship Game after losing to Ohio State in 2014. Erickson finished the 2015 season with 978 yards on 77 receptions, averaging 12.7 yards per catch. He finished his career with the Badgers with 1,887 yards and six TD’s. Wisconsin will look to senior Robert Wheelwright and junior Jazz Peavy to pick up the slack in Erickson’s absence.

Only time will tell if these key losses will prevent one of the four power house Big Ten teams from returning to the conference championship. Although replacing a star player is always difficult, a truly great team will manage the transition from one skill player to the next in their pursuit of success.

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