Emery, Bears close to pulling off rare three-part strategy

Doubledown

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When Phil Emery spoke openly after the 2013 season about the need to get younger on defense, that the Bears would go defense-heavy in the draft, the general manager was in fact laying out only a portion of a three-stage strategy that began unfolding in earnest last year, has continued through this point of the 2014 offseason, and still has that third step to play out.

[MORE: Planning helping Bears shed 'Misers of the Midway' image]

The real trick is on defense, where Emery and the Bears are close to doing two distinctly different things at basically the same time: stock a roster with solid veterans while simultaneously building with youth. Here is how Emery and the Bears have done it and are still doing it:

Phase One: The offense

The first was obvious last offseason and through the year: Create a championship offense, in particular settle on a franchise quarterback, whether that in fact was indeed Jay Cutler. Incoming head coach Marc Trestman and offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer were explicitly and publicly reserved in assessments of Cutler, who played to hoped-for levels. Injuries were an issue but Cutler statistically had his highest single-season passer rating anyway, reduced his sack issues and had the second-highest completion percentage of his career. He made the new-contract decision for the organization.

Age was not the issue on offense that it was one defense, and Emery invested in four new starting offensive linemen, all under the age of 30, with a first-round pick on a guard (Kyle Long). Even the core backups with the exception of Jonathan Scott (31) were sub-30 (Eben Britton, Taylor Boggs, James Brown.

[RELATED: Jared Allen sees Bears' age on defense as a positive]

Emery traded to acquire Brandon Marshall in 2012 and traded up to draft Alshon Jeffery; both sub-30. Marquess Wilson a 2013 draft selection is 22. The four tight ends, led by free-agent pickup Martellus Bennett, are all sub-30.

The point was that not only had the talent level being raised to the planned level, it was done with players in peak years. That ultimately factors hugely into steps 2 and 3, which is where this becomes exponentially more interesting.

Phase Two: The 2013 and 2014 defensive cores

Where the plan developed by Emery with the endorsement of chairman George McCaskey and President Ted Phillips took a hit was the injury tsunami that derailed the 2013 defense. Did Emery err in overestimating how good a top-five defense in 2012 would be in 2013? Not really.

The injury list isn’t worth re-chronicling. What is perhaps noteworthy is that so many of those players who seemed inadequate last year have mysteriously found work even as the Bears have gone in different directions this offseason:

The Green Bay Packers snapped up Julius Peppers. Corey Wootton, still rehabbing a hip injury, is a Minnesota Viking. Backup cornerback Zack Bowman is now a New York Giant. Henry Melton, still rehabbing his torn ACL, was signed by the Dallas Cowboys.

[ALSO: After Allen, NFL Draft still begins with 'D' for the Bears]

Even Devin Hester was an Atlanta Falcon nine days into free agency, where he’s going to be tried again as a receiver, for Matt Ryan.

If Emery overestimated talent in 2013, then a number of teams appear to be doing exactly the same thing on some of the very same players.

Phase Three: The real trick

What Emery is on the brink of pulling off is the unique juggling trick of getting significantly better with veterans (Jared Allen, Jeremiah Ratliff, D.J. Williams, Charles Tillman, Nate Collins, Lamarr Houston, Willie Young) and getting younger at the same time. The reason:

The draft.

Consider a scenario: When the New York Giants drafted Jason Pierre-Paul with the 15th pick of the 2010 draft. He is a two-time Pro Bowl defensive end and 2011 All-Pro.

He also did not start a single game as a rookie on a team that went 10-6.

What Emery and the offseason have done to this point is put in place a defense good enough to win now, and that is with zero draft choices. The Bears now are arguably in the position of grabbing a big-time pass rusher like Kony Ealy of Missouri with the 14th pick, and Ealy not being good enough as a rookie to beat out Allen, Houston or Young for a starting job initially.

[MORE: Jared Allen has Super Bowl dreams with the Bears]

If Emery elects defensive tackle at No. 14, does Pittsburgh’s Aaron Donald, a potential designer three-technique, easily beat out Ratliff? Not based on Allen’s assessment on Monday:

“I know Jay Ratliff,” Allen said. “If he’s healthy, he’s a beast. He’s an absolute best.”

An elite cornerback may be the choice at No. 14: better by Opening Day than Tim Jennings or Tillman? If he is, Emery has hit a home run. Safety? A more fluid situation, but the positions in front of that typically are addressed that high in drafts.

Emery’s plays have resulted in a dramatically upgraded veteran defense with an entire draft still at hand to stock a pipeline on that same side of the ball.

“It’s always been about getting the best players possible to continue to build our team towards to winning championships,” Emery said. “And to do that, you have to have high-quality players and players that can make plays. We talked about at the end of the season about having more playmakers on our team, and Jared fits that role.”

http://www.csnchicago.com/bears/emery-bears-close-pulling-rare-three-part-strategy
 
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Dare I say it, but with the additions from the draft, our defense could be sneaky good his year.

Houston, Young, and Allen give us a very good DE rotation - MUCH improved over last year. If we were to kick Houston inside on 3rd down passing situations, it would be even more potent.

Getting Tillman locked up long term and with Tillman coming back as the veteran leader of the defense (and healthy), the secondary should be improved.

The linebacker situation is much more fluid; DJ Williams got something of an incomplete grade due to injury last year, but I think he is more than capable of acting as the stop-gap starter in the middle. If Shea can make the transition to OLB, a linebacker unit of McClellin-Williams-Briggs would be more than serviceable.

Safety is really the only unit on defense that is a complete disaster at this point.
 

malcore

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lol, spacey, and fitting

wjj9DC9.jpg
 

PolarBear

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The Bears defense will surprise people. I have really like the additions and I feel it could put the Bears back in the top 20 defensively. Combine that with a top 10 offense and you have a legit playoff team.
 

DrGonzo

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Dare I say it, but with the additions from the draft, our defense could be sneaky good his year.

Houston, Young, and Allen give us a very good DE rotation - MUCH improved over last year. If we were to kick Houston inside on 3rd down passing situations, it would be even more potent.

Getting Tillman locked up long term and with Tillman coming back as the veteran leader of the defense (and healthy), the secondary should be improved.

The linebacker situation is much more fluid; DJ Williams got something of an incomplete grade due to injury last year, but I think he is more than capable of acting as the stop-gap starter in the middle. If Shea can make the transition to OLB, a linebacker unit of McClellin-Williams-Briggs would be more than serviceable.

Safety is really the only unit on defense that is a complete disaster at this point.
Long term? Tillman signed a one year contract.

(Which I am ok with - I thought maybe some team would offer him three years and $5mil guaranteed or something like that.)

I hope the defense is sneaky good this year but I'm not holding my breath.
 

Tjodalv

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Long term? Tillman signed a one year contract.

(Which I am ok with - I thought maybe some team would offer him three years and $5mil guaranteed or something like that.)

I hope the defense is sneaky good this year but I'm not holding my breath.

Pretty sure he was going for Jennings = "locked up long term," and Tillman = "coming back as the veteran leader."
 

botfly10

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If the Bears get a legit 3 tech, then they should have the DL to be in the top 20 at least, if not closer to 15.

You can get away with a lot just from a good DL.
 

Bear_Assed

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Emery has yet to prove he can draft defensive starters. Last piece to this puzzle is a big one and also biggest question mark when it comes to his capabilities as a GM

Heres hoping he's learned his lesson after McClellin, Hardin, (possibly bostic...)
 

PrideisBears

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If the Bears get a legit 3 tech, then they should have the DL to be in the top 20 at least, if not closer to 15.

You can get away with a lot just from a good DL.

Ratliff is actually a good 3 tech
 

PrimeTime

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If the Bears get a legit 3 tech, then they should have the DL to be in the top 20 at least, if not closer to 15.

You can get away with a lot just from a good DL.

Too many people on here don't seem to understand your statement. Wright and Conte were good enough to be the safety tandem for a top 5 defense in 2012. One year later they were rated as one of the worst safety tandems in the league. Considering how young they are I doubt their age had anything to do with their rapidly diminishing skill-set. The fastest way to improve the play of your safeties is to improve the defensive line. Drafting Donaldson with the 14th pic is a no-brainer if he's still there. There will be plenty of safeties available in the 2nd thru 4th rds that will fit in nicely on this defense if you get production from the d-line.
 

Raskolnikov

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it was the run defense that failed us last year and completely took any thought of a chess match away from Tucker. Can't stop the run, then you can't stop the other team from doing whatever they want.

this year the pass will let us down. We are thin up the middle. DT, MLB, FS, SS The entire middle is suspect. I hope the draft goes middle early and often.
 

Sentinel

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It's that time of the year. When people start hyping up the underground Super Bowl bangwagon.

I won't be jumping on any time soon. Maybe in two years.
 

Bearly

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Nice article but we're not done on the Oline either. Garza will upgraded in a year and Mills will either be better (my hope) or swapped as well. Slauson is just solid and wouldn't be that hard to upgrade with a project in a couple years. This will be a defensive draft but don't think if a great Oline value falls to us later. We were just spoiled by a line that wasn't bad for a change but we still couldn't rush up the middle and relied too much on quick throws. This O especially benefits from a good middle push. We're at the not giving ground stage. It could be really impressive with more beef block.
 

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