As a rookie coordinator who also understands the Bears’ offensive needs as well as anyone, Desai will have to remain realistic with his wish list heading into the draft. But the Bears have eight selections, so even if they don’t use their first-round pick on a defensive playmaker, there’s plenty of opportunity to add talent and depth to the defense. That starts with the hole at cornerback. In a quest to replace Kyle Fuller — current in-house options include Desmond Trufant, Kindle Vildor, Artie Burns and Tre Roberson — the Bears will be attentive in Round 1. And if they stay at No. 20, they might have a chance to snag South Carolina’s Jaycee Horn, Virginia Tech’s Caleb Farley or Northwestern’s Greg Newsome II. Day 2 options at corner include Syracuse’s Ifeatu Melifonwu, Kentucky’s Kelvin Joseph, Georgia’s Tyson Campbell and LSU’s Kary Vincent Jr. Internally, the Bears have also acknowledged a desire to fortify their inside linebacker position and will make every effort to do so into Friday and Saturday. Seeking a future starting option at safety makes sense too. And as Ryan Pace and Desai so often stress, adding pass-rushing threats is always a goal. Most of Chicago’s attention will be zeroed in on the Bears offense this week. But the defensive needs cannot be ignored.
What should be the top priority? Who is the best-case QB to land? 4 questions for the Chicago Bears before the NFL draft.
