Chicago Bears receiving no love for 2020 season, expected to fail

Not many experts are impressed with the moves the Chicago Bears made this offseason, expect the team to fail miserably in the 2020 season.

The Chicago Bears tried to improve the roster to compete in 2020. General manager Ryan Pace dropped some players (outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, wide receiver Taylor Gabriel, cornerback Prince Amukamara). He then picked up some new ones (quarterback Nick Foles, outside linebacker Robert Quinn, safety Tashaun Gibson, offensive linemen Germain Ifedi and Jason Spriggs, tight end Jimmy Graham) to try to get the team back to its 2018 form.

Those moves, as of now, haven’t improved many fans or experts around the league. They say the Bears paid too much for an aging Graham, and even with the additions to the offensive line, it’s still in disarray. Even the picks in the draft were criticized. I mean, how many tight ends and cornerbacks can one team have, right?

It seems like no matter what Pace does, it isn’t good. People keep looking at his failures (Floyd, Kevin White, Adam Shaheen and possibly Mitchell Trubisky) and forget some of his successes (acquiring Khalil Mack, Eddie Jackson, Akiem Hicks, Allen Robinson).

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Many experts around the league see a great big failure for Pace and the Chicago Bears in 2020. Here are some musings from around the league.

Josh Edwards of CBS Sports:

"The tight end position was not a pressing need so it is hard to justify the selection of Cole Kmet in the second round. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson is a great player but was only on the board because he had been dealing with an injury. Edge rusher Trevis Gipson was picked too early. Tulane wide receiver Darnell Mooney has great speed but needs to continue his development. Chicago ended the event by adding two relatively unknown prospects: offensive linemen Arlington Hambright and Lachavious Simmons."

USA Today Sports NFL expert Nate Davis thinks the Bears have a chance at drafting Trevor Lawrence. He feels the Bears will win only three games in 2020. This is what he says about the team:

"The schedule is brutal, and the offensive weaponry supporting the unsettled quarterback position isn’t a whole lot better. Barring another transcendent effort like the defense produced in 2018, more likely this franchise ends up cleaning house than returning to postseason."

So Davis says the schedule is brutal. Well, their strength of schedule based on the 2019 records of their opponents ranks 27th. They don’t see a team that appeared in the 2019 playoffs until Week 8 against the New Orleans Saints. Yes, they then face playoff teams in their next four matchups, but this schedule isn’t grueling. If they can take advantage early on then they can afford a couple of tough losses later on in the season.

I’m not saying the Chicago Bears will finish 15-1 and win the Super Bowl because they won’t. However, they won’t finish with only three wins. Heck, by improving an already elite defense the team will win more than three games.

Yes, there are some “ifs” that Pace and the Bears depend on, and depending on a number of “ifs” can cause a team’s downfall. They can also end up helping a team win. I think at a minimum the team can win nine games.

Pace’s choices in players don’t make sense right away. You end up scratching your head, but a great deal of the time he makes good choices. Every general manager has failures, of course, but Pace gambles with little-known or injury risk players.

Take, for example, Edwards’ assessment of Johnson. He said Johnson was only available because of an injury. You know who else dropped in the draft because of an injury, right? Yes, none other than Eddie Jackson. He was a first-round talent who suffered a broken leg so bad that teams shied away from him. Now Jackson is one of the top safeties in the NFL.

Take a look at the long-term gain when looking at Pace’s choices. Kmet was chosen to be the number one tight end. He won’t be the top tight end this season. Hr still needs some fine-tuning in his game. Graham is in Chicago to not only play well on the team and help the offense but also help Kmet become the starter as early as 2021.

Pace is trying to build a lasting contender, one that competes year in and year out. Chicago can’t continue to miss for decades then hit every once in a while. The fans need a team they can honestly say at the beginning of a season that the Chicago Bears could be a championship team.