Bears Free Agency Gets Passing Grade, Glennon As Matt Ryan, O.J. Howard To Visit, Draft Plan, and Other Bullets

Apr 01, 2017

I wonder how Crayola feels about getting subliminally dragged into the most storied rivalry in NFL history.

Adios, Dandelion.

While you're at it @Crayola, feel free to eliminate Green too.

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) March 31, 2017

With the news of Crayola retiring its yellowish dandelion color, the Chicago Bears Twitter page had suggestions for its next move, extending the Bears-Packers rivalry to another level.

Now, if the Bears can convince Crayola to eliminate some losses moving forward …

At least one NFL pundit sees the Chicago Bears’ free agent activity in a positive light. The Bears received a B-minus grade for their free agent efforts by ESPN’s Mike Sando. It’s an ESPN Insider report, so I won’t go too deep into details of Sando’s league-wide report. Though, he seems sold on the idea that a change at the top with Mike Glennon taking over for Jay Cutler at quarterback is enough to hand out a passing grade. If the move for Glennon pans out, he’ll likely be able to thank fellow free agent additions such as Markus Wheaton, Kendall Wright, and Dion Sims.

Adding help on the offensive side of the ball in the draft would be beneficial, too. With that in mind, all-world Alabama tight end O.J. Howard plans to visit the Bears in the coming week. NFL.com’s Connor Orr reports Howard has an on-campus visit scheduled with the Panthers before taking visits the Bears and Jaguars. Howard isn’t a target for the Bears with the third pick, but could be someone the team has in mind if it is able to trade down in the first round.

Over at the Chicago Sun-Times, Patrick Finley checks in with the former coaches of four of the Bears’ biggest free agent signings to get the scoop on the kind of players coming to Chicago. Among them, Tampa Bay’s Dirk Koetter’s favorable comparison of Mike Glennon to NFL MVP Matt Ryan stands out. Kotter believes the two play similar styles and have similar skill sets. Of course, one has the leg up on the other, but we’ll see how Glennon tries to catch up in the grand scheme of things in Chicago.

The former coaches of new Bears Dion Sims, Quintin Demps, and Markus Wheaton were a bit more reserved with insight on their former players. Dolphins head coach Adam Gase praised Sims for his developing pass-catching skills despite being known primarily for his blocking proficiency. Demps was described by Texans coach Bill O’Brien as “a pro’s pro” which should play well in a room full of young defensive backs. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin had the most brief statement, simply calling Wheaton a professional he enjoyed working with for four years. None of these additions are splashy, but should – at minimum – raise the talent level of the bottom half of the roster.

With free agency slowing to a crawl, now is a good time to look survey the field before making the next move. The NFL Draft is on the horizon, and the Chicago Bears are narrowing potential choices worthy of the third overall pick. CSN Chicago’s John Mullin writes the Bears are leaning toward defense with the third-overall pick. It’s a move rooted in logic as the available quarterbacks simply aren’t making the kind of grades that would land them among NFL starters.

As if finding the right quarterback isn’t enough of a challenge, coaches are in charge of molding him into a productive NFL starter. Dan Durkin of The Athletic asked five NFL head coaches about the biggest challenges in quarterback development. Super Bowl winning coaches Mike McCarthy and Sean Payton were among those weighing in with what they perceive to be the biggest hurdles to overcome in quarterback development. Young quarterback gurus Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay – the youngest coach in the league – also checked in with some pertinent insight. I wonder how the offensive brain trust in Chicago (offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains and quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone) feel about quarterback development.

This is an interesting source of information that allows for some perspective:

Percentage of 2016 offensive snaps in which each team led on the scoreboard. Good place to find lucky/unlucky teams. pic.twitter.com/UuzIyW7g5S
— Mike Clay (@MikeClayNFL) March 31, 2017

Being that far in the red isn’t a good look for the Bears. Then again, how did the Giants, Dolphins, and Texans make the playoffs despite landing on what should be considered the wrong side of this chart?

written by

Luis C. Medina

Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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