By Adewale Apata
Ryan Pace decided that Willie Young and Pernell McPhee were too old, injured and expensive, so he released them to accumulate more salary cap space. According to Over The Cap, Ryan Pace will have over $77 million dollars in cap space to spend after Mike Glennon is released. The problem with that is; talented, healthy and young edge rushers rarely avoid that franchise tag. Free agent sack artist Ziggy Ansah from the Lions and Demarcus Lawrence from the Cowboys both received franchise tags and won’t hit free agency.
2016 9th overall Bears draft pick Leonard Floyd is an emerging edge rusher to build around. He has contributed with 11.5 sacks in 22 regular season games. However, his durability will be questioned since he missed 10 games in his 1st two seasons due to a concussion and neck injury in 2016 and sprained MCL and PCL in 2017.
Sam Acho is an unrestricted free agent that the Bears should bring back to provide veteran leadership off the bench. Lamar Houston is also an unrestricted free agent but the Bears are unlikely to re-sign the injury prone 30 year old vet. Isaiah Irving is coming off his rookie year as an undrafted free agent and showed some promise in the 2017 preseason with 3 sacks.
But the Bears brain trust has got to find Floyd much more reliable long term help on his opposite side. Unfortunately, this year’s edge rusher free agent class is so bleak, Pace may want to seriously think about bringing back Pernell McPhee or Willie Young. If not, he may have to get creative with a trade. Don’t be surprised if the Bears draft 2 OLBs and never rule out the possibility of Ryan Pace signing a salary cap casualty during training camp or the preseason.
of his career by finishing 2nd in the NFL in sacks with 14.5. In his 2014 rookie season, he did not play much but he showed plenty of potential in 2015 under the tutelage of defensive coordinator Ron Marinelli by recording 8 sacks. However, 2016 was a tumultuous season as he missed 7 games due to back surgery and a suspension for using amphetamines (usually used to treat depression and to decrease one’s appetite), which violated the league’s substance abuse policy.
#1 Ezekiel “Ziggy” Ansah 6’5”, 271, 28 years old (5/29/89) – The only negative thing I can say about this guy is that he played 13 games in 2016 and recorded only 2 sacks. But guess what? He suffered a high ankle sprain during week 2 of that season and decided to play through that injury rather than sitting out on the injured reserved list. He proved his unfortunate 2016 season was just an aberration by finishing 8th in the NFL in sacks with 12 in 2017. In 2015, he was 3rd in the league in sacks with 14.5. Ryan Pace and Vic Fangio has got to team up, find Ziggy, sell that Bears top 10 defense and throw the bank at Ansah. Starting edge rushers of Ansah and Leonard Floyd with vets Young and McPhee as backups would be ideal for Vic Fangio’s emerging defense.
He also comes from solid gridiron bloodlines. His father Ferrell Edmunds was a 2-time NFL pro bowler as a Tight End with the Dolphins, his oldest brother Trey Edmunds is a RB for the Saints and his other brother free safety Terrell Edmunds has also declared for the NFL draft from Virginia Tech. Tremaine is the youngest of the 3. NFL defensive coordinators are also excited about his potential to get much better. Tremaine Edmunds is only 19-years-old. But Tampa Bay picks at #7 with huge needs at offensive line, safety and edge rusher.
recording 14.5 tackles for loss and 12 sacks. Heading into the 2017 season, he was projected as a top 5 overall draft prospect. But his stock has declined for 2 main reasons. In the spring of 2017, Key left the team for personal reasons. Professional scouts and the press was not informed about any specifics of why he temporarily left the team. This caused the general public to question his work ethic and overall passion for the game. Key has also fallen down draft boards due to missing 5 games for offseason shoulder surgery, mid-season finger surgery, a knee injury and his sack total dropped down to 4.
If the Bears think Key is too risky, they could reach for Marcus Davenport or trade back to catch him. The knock on Davenport is that he’s from the small University of Texas at San Antonio. He recorded 6.5 sacks as a junior and 8.5 sacks as a senior. He also had a solid performance at the Senior Bowl with a sack and fumble recovery for a touchdown. Ryan Pace selected 3 small school guys during the 2017 draft but will he take it even further by selecting one in the 1st round this year?
accelerated the Bulls Race to the Bottom for more lottery balls in the 2018 NBA draft. However, if you think General Manager John Paxson’s quest to have the worst squad is going to be easy, think again. Here’s a look at the bottom 9 teams in the standings during the All-Star break.
This kid had a chance to be the number one overall pick before being out for the season after injuring his back during the first game of the season. He has been compared to Kevin Durant due to his length, athleticism, shooting and dribbling ability at the small forward position. But his draft position depends on his recovery from microdiscectomy surgery on his back. “The most famous recent example of a basketball player to undergo a microdiscectomy is Dwight Howard. Howard had the procedure done in 2012 before he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers (SBNation, Ricky O’Donnell, 2017).” Lets take a look at Dwight Howard’s numbers before and after surgery.
At the moment, this Slovenian prospect is averaging 16 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds in just 24 minutes a game. He’s a big tall 19-year-old combo guard with good vision and scoring ability. The knock on him is the bust potential that surrounds high profile international draft prospects. Since 2009, only 7 international players have been selected in the top 5 of the NBA draft and the results have been underwhelming.
league leading 2.2 steals per game and Ben Simmons 16 points, 7 boards, 7 assists and 2 steals per game should have earned them a 1st ballot all-star selection. The head coaches vote for the guys that come off the bench in the all-star game and they clearly put too much emphasis on players who play on teams high up in the NBA standings over players who are performing better.
And that brings me to another player who should have been selected over Horford, if the coaches were hell-bent on continuing their foolery by slighting Ben Simmons simply because he’s a rookie. Andre Drummond is having an excellent season leading the league in rebounds by averaging 15 a game while also averaging 15 points. Simmons and Drummond have undoubtedly been outperforming Horford but the coaches will rationalize their decision because the 76ers and Pistons are fighting for a playoff spot while the Celtics had the best record in the East at the time of the voting.
loss by pulling an upset in Dallas to spoil Ezekiel Elliot’s return from his 6 game suspension. But despite earning a victory over the Cowboys, television cameras caught Seahawk’s safety Earl Thomas entering bizarre land by trying to convince the Cowboys to sign him up. After the game, Earl Thomas chased down Cowboy’s coach Jason Garret and said, “Come get me.” Now that had to be extremely disappointing for Seahawk fans to see. Even after a win, things were looking discouraging for Seattle but they could rectify everything in the final regular season game versus the mediocre 7 – 8 Arizona Cardinals in Seattle.