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There's not a lot of depth on the Bears as the roster's currently constructed. With Brian Urlacher and Nick Roach as free agents, along with Geno Hayes, the depth chart currently looks like Lance Briggs, one special teams specialist (Blake Costanzo), J.T. Thomas, Dom DeCicco and Patrick Trahan as players with NFL experience. Re-signing Urlacher and Roach will be huge for the Bears' linebacking corps, but there's no doubt they need younger players that can contribute, and in short order.
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So, let's take a look at some linebackers the Bears might be looking at in the draft.
1st Round Consideration: Alec Ogletree, Georgia (ILB) [LINK] | Jarvis Jones, Georgia (OLB) | Manti Te'o, Notre Dame (ILB) [LINK] | Kevin Minter, LSU (ILB) [LINK]
2nd Round Consideration: Khaseem Greene, Rutgers (OLB) [LINK] | Arthur Brown, Kansas State (OLB) | Chase Thomas, Stanford (OLB) | Kevin Reddick, North Carolina (ILB) | Trevardo Williams, Connecticut (OLB) | Jamie Collins, Southern Miss (OLB)
3rd Round Consideration: Kiko Alonso, Oregon (ILB) | Gerald Hodges, Penn State (OLB) | Jonathan Bostic, Florida (ILB) | Sean Porter, Texans A&M (OLB) | Sio Moore, Connecticut (OLB)
With the interior and outside linebackers, there's a couple different paths the Bears can take here..
Sign Urlacher and Roach: They can spend a first round pick on an Ogletree, Te'o or Minter to develop on the inside once Urlacher rides off into the sunset. They can also wait until a later round for a developmental body or ignore the position and try again later.
Sign Urlacher, Leave Roach: They could look at one of the many outside options in the second and third round and take their chances on an ILB next year.
Sign Roach, Leave Urlacher: This gets dicey. Roach's versatility is nice, but he can only play one position at a time, so any player is in play if Roach is tied to his outside position or if he shifts over. Either way, it would likely require a player to come in and contribute immediately - they can get one of the three first-round ILBs or wait till the second for Greene, Brown, et cetera as Roach mans the middle.
MORE: 22013 Free Agency & NFL Draft: Brian Urlacher vs Manti Te'o
Sign Neither: Well, grab anybody willing to put on a uniform, but it probably means a high draft pick and both DeCicco and Trahan on the gameday roster every week. In that case, (assuming no other free agents at LB) DeCicco probably takes the middle and the Bears take an OLB to play across from Briggs.