First this must be prefaced. This is not a shot at Chicago Bears GM Ryan Pace. The evidence over the past month indicates he’s done a fine job rebuilding a once old and depleted roster. Suddenly the Bears are young and fast again. They have an emerging defense, a loaded running back stable, a strong offensive line and a promising quarterback to groom. All in all it’s an exciting time.
That said Pace isn’t perfect. GMs make mistakes and he’s no exception. It was the opinion of this writer that he’d made a big one during the primary acquisition periods of March and April. It centered on the Bears’ failure to add a significant talent to their edge rusher position. Through all of free agency and the draft they didn’t bring in anybody.
Sure they were focused on boosting the secondary and finding a quarterback, but they had to see the lingering problem at outside linebacker. Right?
Bears GM Ryan Pace is regretting his inaction back in spring
Well if they didn’t then it’s a gross miscalculation on Pace’s part. Yes Leonard Floyd is an emerging superstar. That’s great. The problem is the depth chart behind him is more than a little dicey. Pernell McPhee has already had knee surgery for the second-straight year. He looks like a PUP list candidate, meaning he’ll miss the first six games. Willie Young is 32-years old and might be slowing down.
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If that weren’t bad enough, now another vital depth option in Lamarr Houston might be off the table.
Injury roundup: Bears LB Lamarr Houston suffers knee injury against Browns https://t.co/4exjij9WjV pic.twitter.com/hpvRSDPmfX
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) September 1, 2017
So to recap. McPhee has a knee injury and is likely out over a month. Houston now may have another knee injury. Remember he tore his ACL twice in three seasons since 2014. If that weren’t bad enough, veteran Sam Acho is dealing with an ankle problem as well. This means Floyd and Young are their only two healthy edge rushers and Floyd has a shaky injury history of his own.
Keeping in mind of course the Bears play in a division with Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford. This is a problem. A big problem. Pace deserves credit for the number of positive moves he made this offseason, but if there is one criticism that he should not avoid it’s his failure to supplement the edge rush.
Maybe he can find help on the waiver wire within the next few days, but that’s a reach. Odds are this issue will linger all season.
