As Bears general manager Jerry Angelo was talking about building strong floors Saturday, many Bears fans still worried about the bottom falling out.
Working with an eye toward the future more than the present, the Bears spent their two first-round picks on players who filled voids but may not immediately help fill seats.
Swapping first-round spots with New England, the Bears took a pass-rusher with the 14th pick, Penn State’s Michael Haynes, and then got their quarterback of the future, Florida’s Rex Grossman, with the 22nd selection.
Until Grossman develops into the starter, to many impatient fans this will be the draft Angelo placed potential ahead of urgency, quantity over quality.
Angelo traded away the fourth pick Friday and the Bears’ best chance at an instant-impact player, defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson of Kentucky, to the Jets for their two first-round choices Saturday.
“I don’t have delusions of grandeur. I’m looking at a player’s floor as much as I’m looking at his ceiling, especially on the first day,” Angelo said. “We want these to be good football players that we can win with and we feel very strongly that we have done that.”
In the second round, the Bears selected cornerback Charles Tillman out of Louisiana-Lafayette with the 35th choice and took linebacker Lance Briggs of Arizona in the third round with the 68th pick.
Many Bears fans looking at this NFL draft for relief after last season’s 4-12 record are still looking.
“Our focus going into the draft was not so much necessarily the first pick as it was the first day,” Angelo explained. “We’re not talking about rebuilding this team. We’re talking about doing what’s best for our football team.”
The way Angelo stockpiled late-round draft picks this weekend indicated he was talking about what’s best in the long-term as opposed to the short-term. The Jets’ trade also brought the Bears a fourth-round pick, the 116th overall. The Patriots gave the Bears a sixth-round pick, the 193rd overall, to move up from 14th to 13th in the first round.
All of Angelo’s maneuvering gave the Bears 14 picks overall, more than any team. They will have 10 picks Sunday as the draft concludes with Rounds 4-7.
“It’ll create good competition, create good depth and everybody we draft will have a chance to make this football team,” Angelo said.
No competition exists at quarterback, Angelo and coach Dick Jauron were quick to point out. Grossman, whom Jauron had rated higher than California’s Kyle Boller, will not challenge Kordell Stewart for the starting job. Angelo even called Stewart and Stewart’s agent, Leigh Steinberg, on Saturday to assuage any concerns.
“When you look at quarterback position, they need a development period,” Angelo said.
Jauron was even more emphatic.
“Kordell’s been around the league a long time, Kordell knows how we feel about him, he’s going to lead our team and I think he’ll be a very positive influence for Rex,” Jauron said
If the Bears’ season goes as Jauron hopes, Grossman’s biggest contribution will be keeping his pencils sharp enough to chart plays. Stewart has a two-year contract and even if he struggles, Jauron might be reluctant to yank a veteran player whose success is so closely linked to Jauron’s future.
Clipboard duty will be an adjustment for Grossman, who started 29-of-34 games at Florida and threw for 9,164 yards. No question the guy who walked uninvited into Steve Spurrier’s office as a high school junior with only a resume and a videotape possesses the necessary moxie for an NFL quarterback
“He has all the intangibles and all the tangibles we’re looking for in a quarterback,” Jauron said. “We’re not taking Rex Grossman to play right now.”
The Bears did take Haynes for that purpose.
The 6-foot-3-inch, 281-pounder will get a chance at right end to push Alex Brown, who had 2.5 sacks last year, and has enough versatility to spell veteran Phillip Daniels at left end. Wherever Haynes plays, he was drafted to help offset the loss of Rosevelt Colvin and his 10.5 sacks.
The son of military parents who moved around often growing up, Haynes won’t be fazed by switching spots.
“I’ve played both [sides] and in terms of comfort, it really doesn’t matter. In college they made sure we could play both sides,” Haynes said. “I definitely expect to be an impact player, but I’m really not too familiar with their situation. Now they drafted me in the first round, therefore they must obviously expect me to come play.”
Haynes, who played high school football for three seasons in Panama before moving to New Jersey, went to Penn State as a fullback but flourished after moving to defensive end. He spent a season learning behind former No. 1 pick Courtney Brown at Penn State before breaking into the lineup. Last season Haynes set a Penn State single-season record with 15 sacks and had 25 in his career.
“He had a terrific year in a Big Ten setting,” Jauron said. “He’s a [281]-pound man. He’ll play a lot of football for us. He’ll have some competition obviously, but he’ll play a lot of football for us this year.”
At the NFL combine in February, Haynes overslept and hurried through his warm-up. During the 40-yard dash, he pulled a quadriceps muscle but finished the run. His time was 4.8.
A month later during Penn State’s Pro Day, Haynes improved that to 4.65. An outgoing nature and one of the highest scores on the NFL’s Wonderlic test made a strong impression on the Bears.
“He’s a high character guy, a mature young man,” Jauron said.
He used similar adjectives to describe Tillman, who will get a chance to challenge Roosevelt Williams for time as the Bears’ third corner, essentially a starting position in a league full of three-receiver sets.
“When you get into the draft, you become enamored with some players that are maybe not as high-profile,” Jauron said. “Charles Tillman was one of those for me.”
