Teams' Needs
Chicago Bears
Offensive line: The offensive line proved to be a strength of the team. The Bears went 14 weeks with the same starting linemen, then substituted a veteran reserve at left tackle for the final two games to let the starter heal up for the playoffs. This is a quality group with proven reserves, but it is the right time for Chicago to begin to develop young, talented offensive linemen for the future.
Strongside linebacker: Hunter Hillenmeyer has done a solid job, but an upgrade at strongside linebacker, alongside MLB
Brian Urlacher and WLB
Lance Briggs, would arguably give the Bears the best linebacking corps in the NFL. The Bears placed the franchise tag on Briggs, meaning it's likely that he will return to Chicago. The Bears will seek an athletic linebacker quick enough to match up with receiving tight ends in coverage and stout enough to play on the line of scrimmage in an underfront (a 3-man line with the same effect as a 4-man line), taking on blocks at the point of attack.
Safety: After another season-ending injury to Pro Bowl standout
Mike Brown, it is evident that the Bears must look for a talented, young safety to develop behind
Chris Harris,
Todd Johnson and
Danieal Manning, giving the back end depth. Chicago has done an excellent job in recent years of evaluating defensive backs and adding depth at the safety position. These players not only provide depth in the secondary, but also impact the Bears' excellent special teams.
Defensive tackle: After playing dominant football on the defensive interior, three-technique
Tommie Harris was lost for the month of December with a serious hamstring injury. With the loss of Harris, the Bears were even more susceptible to the run, and they lost any inside push in the pass rush. Chicago would improve tremendously with a stout, run-stuffing nose guard alongside Harris. A tough run defender would keep
Tank Johnson,
Alfonso Boone,
Ian Scott and Harris fresh. It would make the coaches' decision of which rotation to play a difficult one.
Fullback: With the offensive firepower on the Bears' roster, adding a powerhouse fullback would complete the package, opening up holes for the outstanding running back duo of
Thomas Jones and
Cedric Benson.
Jason McKie is adequate as a receiver, but is not a strong lead blocker. He is better than rookie
J.D. Runnels. Runnels is more physical, but is not as good of a receiver as the injury-prone McKie. Adding a strong lead-blocking fullback will give the Bears' ground game more juice.
Detroit Lions
Offensive line: The Lions' offensive line was decimated by injuries this season and had to be patched together each week, shuffling personnel to get five healthy bodies lined up. This group gave up 63 quarterback sacks. When running back
Kevin Jones was healthy, the running game showed flashes, but still finished last in the NFL, gaining only 70 yards per game. This group needs serious upgrades, especially on the right side at both tackle and guard.
Quarterback: Jon Kitna started all 16 games, winning only three, and threw more interceptions than touchdowns. His threw for more than 4,000 yards, but he still lacked leadership qualities, as well as the playmaking abilities to lead his team to victories. Kitna is not the long-term answer. Young
Dan Orlovsky is developing and athletic,
Josh McCown has taken game snaps at wide receiver, but neither will be the franchise quarterback of the future.
Defensive tackle: Dominant three-technique tackle
Shaun Rogers was first suspended, then lost to injury, and nose guard
Shaun Cody was placed on injured reserve, leaving two huge voids on the defensive interior. Detroit was so desperate it moved the versatile
Cory Redding inside to start at defensive tackle. While Redding did an impressive job, Detroit needs to add talented depth inside at defensive tackle, and get both Rogers and Cody back healthy.
Cornerback: Veteran cornerback
Dre' Bly still has game, but the depth chart is thin. Playing a base Tampa Cover 2 defensive scheme, the Lions will need to improve the cornerback position, adding tough tacklers who can play hard edge contain versus the run game, as well as be solid, disciplined zone-coverage players. Adding these types of players will also bring added depth to special teams, both with gunners and cover players. Strong man-to-man coverage players who can play the nickel position will be important additions.
Tight end: On paper, the trio of
Dan Campbell,
Casey FitzSimmons and
Marcus Pollard looks good, but Pollard was a huge disappointment, FitzSimmons is inconsistent and Campbell is an overachiever. With pass-happy offensive coordinator Mike Martz calling the plays, a quality receiving tight end is what this team needs. One player who can stretch the coverage down the field, with the receiving skills to beat linebackers and safeties, and be the strong point-of-attack blocker is oversized wide receiver
Mike Williams. He could be the receiving tight end in certain personnel groups, but improvements at the tight end position will be important to this offense.
Green Bay Packers
Quarterback: Brett Favre will be back, so there will be no soap opera at QB. Had he retired, it would have been paramount for the Packers to address this critical position because
Aaron Rodgers did not inspire any confidence in his brief stints under center. Rookie
Ingle Martin and journeyman backup
Todd Bouman are on the roster, but neither will be the long-term answer as the Green Bay signal caller. Even with Favre returning, look for general manager Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy to address this position.
Defensive tackle: The Packers need to upgrade at the defensive tackle position, especially after moving
Cullen Jenkins outside to play defensive end on first and second downs in place of
Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila. Improving the depth at defensive tackle will help this defense stuff the run and give a better inside push in passing situations, making quarterbacks feel claustrophobic in the pocket. This will help the pass defense by forcing quicker throws, and not making the secondary maintain coverage for so long.
Safety: The Packers' pass defense was, statistically, one of the worst in the NFL for much of the season, mainly due to breakdowns in coverage. Many of these breakdowns were a result of communication problems between the safeties and cornerbacks, as well as itchy safeties biting on play-action passes and double moves. The inexperienced
Nick Collins improved as the season went on, but
Marquand Manuel continued to show inconsistent play. Green Bay needs to bring in a quality safety who will add depth, both in the secondary and special teams.
Tight end: [URL="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=5043"]Bubba Franks[/URL] has been to several Pro Bowls as a result of having a future Hall of Fame quarterback feeding him the ball, but struggled mightily last season, dropping a lot of passes.
[URL="http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=5646"]David Martin[/URL] and
Donald Lee both do a better job than Franks at stretching defenses, but neither is a good point-of-attack blocker for this zone running-game scheme. With Franks declining, and the other tight ends failing to step up as complete players, it is time to upgrade the position.
Wide receiver: Donald Driver finally was rewarded with a selection to the Pro Bowl for his consistent play, and rookie
Greg Jennings showed a lot of promise, but an injury to
Robert Ferguson and the year-long suspension of
Koren Robinson (he can apply for reinstatement Sept. 18, 2007) leaves this receiving corps quite thin.
Ruvell Martin provided a larger target for Favre, but only found the field by default and should be a fourth or fifth receiver. Green Bay must find some quality depth. The Packers must also find a speed receiver who can vertically stretch defenses, because this group lacks speed.
Minnesota Vikings
Wide receiver: Head coach Brad Childress opted not to re-sign
Nate Burleson and gave Koren Robinson a new contract, crowning him the No. 1 receiver until his training camp DUI forced Childress to cut him. With
Deion Branch on the open market, Minnesota failed to fill the two big voids in the receiving corps, and headed into the 2006 season undermanned at receiver.
Troy Williamson disappointed with numerous drops, the Vikings' touchdown leader,
Marcus Robinson, was cut prior to the last game and
Travis Taylor struggled at the end of the season. This group never challenged any defenses and was pretty predictable all year long. Childress fired his receivers coach and hired veteran coach George Stewart, but must dramatically improve the talent or his offense will once again be easy to defend.
Quarterback: Minnesota traded perennial Pro Bowl quarterback
Daunte Culpepper before the 2006 season and anointed veteran
Brad Johnson as the perfect quarterback to lead its version of the West Coast offense. When the offense stalled, Johhnson was the scapegoat and rookie
Tarvaris Jackson stepped in as the future. Childress also brought in
Mike McMahon then cut him after trading for
Brooks Bollinger and drafting Jackson. Going into 2007 Jackson and Bollinger will battle for the starting spot but expect Johnson to be long gone, leaving the Vikings in serious need of another quarterback to be developed for the future.
Defensive end: When promising young defensive end
Erasmus James was lost to a season-ending ACL injury, Minnesota lost its premier edge rusher. The Vikings shuffled the lineup, moving
Kenechi Udeze to rush end and
Darrion Scott to base end, which helped Minnesota become a great run defense. Unfortunately, the unit failed to generate consistent pressure, giving quarterbacks enough time to pick apart the Minnesota secondary as the season progressed. The Vikings need a pass-rushing defensive end to add depth and give the defense better balance.
Cornerback: While
Antoine Winfield is the best tackling cornerback in the NFL, the Vikings will lose the very disappointing
Fred Smoot. They need depth at corner behind promising rookie
Cedric Griffin, who will start opposite Winfield. A strong man-coverage player to fill the nickel position would be a good fit for Minnesota, as would another strong tackling corner to excel both against the run and as a zone-coverage player who contributes on special teams.
Wide receiver: This group needs an infusion of talent and is such a priority that receiver merits being listed twice in the top five team needs. Minnesota should have enjoyed much more success last season. One area that was lacking in talent, following the personnel moves of the new regime, was the wide receiving corps. Minnesota needs a speed receiver to vertically stretch the field and challenge defenses, as well as a reliable receiver with the disciplined route-running ability and ball skills to provide consistency.
