Chicago Bears: How Much Impact Will 2016 Rookies Have?
By David Mamola
After drafting nine players in the 2016 NFL Draft, we look at how much impact each of the Chicago Bears’ rookies will have on the upcoming season.
Chicago Bears’ general manager Ryan Pace really did some wheeling-and-dealing in this year’s draft, making four draft-day trades and acquiring a future 2017 fourth-round pick from the Buffalo Bills in the process. There’s no doubt that the Bears targeted help for their subpar defense, as six of the nine picks were made on that side of the ball:
- Round 1 (#9): Leonard Floyd, OLB, Georgia
- Round 2 (#56): Cody Whitehair, OG, Kansas State
- Round 3 (#72): Jonathan Bullard, DT, Florida
- Round 4 (#113): Nick Kwiatkoski, LB, West Virginia
- Round 4 (#124): Deon Bush, FS, Miami
- Round 4 (#127): Deiondre’ Hall, FS, Northern Iowa
- Round 5 (#150): Jordan Howard, RB, Indiana
- Round 6 (#185): DeAndre Houston-Carson, FS, William & Mary
- Round 7 (#230): Daniel Braverman, WR, Western Michigan (on roster bubble)
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Of all the players drafted, second-round guard Cody Whitehair should have the quickest impact. After releasing veteran guard Matt Slauson days after the draft, Whitehair will immediately slide right in to the starting left guard spot from the first day of training camp. He’ll be tasked with protecting quarterback Jay Cutler and opening-up running lanes for second-year player Jeremy Langford and this year’s fifth-round pick Jordan Howard.
While Howard’s workload won’t be huge right off the bat, he could niche-out a nice role as a power-back who handles carries in the redzone and short-yardage situations. His power style complements the speedy Langford well, and it shouldn’t be too long until Howard makes some noise in the Bears’ backfield.
Of all the defensive players the Bears’ drafted, it might be third-round pick Jonathan Bullard—not first-round pick Leonard Floyd—who sees the most playing time early on. Bullard is a prototypical 5-technique defensive end, and with the defensive line lacking quality depth, Bullard may push for a starting job from day one. His constant-motor and strong run-stuffing skills could make him a fan favorite early in his career.
Floyd, on the other hand, has the highest ceiling of any Bears’ player drafted this year, but his playing time could be limited to third-downs and obvious passing situations. Floyd is not going to make many plays against the run, so he’ll have to use his speed-rushing skills to make an immediate impact. Setting the bar at 10 sacks is a bit too high, but as a top-ten pick, there will be enormous pressure on Floyd to produce right away.
Furthermore, between Deon Bush, Deiondre’ Hall, and DeAndre Houston-Carson, the Bears’ hope that one (or all three) of them can fill the role as the other starting safety opposite second-year player Adrian Amos. While Houston-Carson figures to make most of his impact on special teams (he was a standout special teamer at William & Mary), Bush and Hall both figure to see significant snaps on defense.
Hall is a rangy cornerback/safety hybrid that could push Bryce Callahan for the nickel cornerback position, or throw his hat in the ring for the starting safety spot. While Bush is the odds-on favorite to open the season as the starting safety, he figures to play a significant role on special teams as well.
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Special teams is also the way fourth-round linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski figures to contribute early on as well. With free agent signees Danny Trevathan and Jerrell Freeman entrenched as the starters at inside linebacker, Kwiatkoski will be forced to serve as quality depth for the position at first, but his role could expand if he shows well at practice.
As the Chicago Bears go through a “retooling” process, getting significant contributions from the 2016 draft class would go a long way towards bringing the team closer to competing for a playoff berth in the near distant future.