2016 Bears first round pick: Offense or defense?

One nice thing about general manager Ryan Pace's approach to offseason talent acquisition is that he truly believes in trying to set up the team to select the best player available in the draft.

Now my colleague Josh Sunderbruch just neatly tied up a four part series exploring years of available draft analysis to try and come to a conclusion about team's selecting need vs. BPA.

His conclusion was that neither approach held a strong advantage but there is another element much more important to drafting (I won't give that away so that you still need to go and read his article).

So with the BPA vs. need argument not taking the center stage there is still the debate over which side of the ball needs a little more attention.

A team such as the Bears is building themselves up into contention and one of the conclusions drawn from last season is that despite the upgrade in coaching, that can only get a team so far. The fact is that the Bears need plenty of help on both offense and defense and that the talent that a top 15 pick can bring either side would go far.

The draft is deeper as some positions than others, such as defensive line. The Bears could use another 5-technique DE who could rush the passer. Perhaps their biggest issues are still in the secondary, where a cornerback could really help them defend the pass better.

They have a need for a speed rushing OLB as well and that position is somewhat lacking in this draft class and they could benefit from attacking that need right away rather than waiting until a later round.

On the other hand, some commenters and mock drafters seem to think that the value of a WR such as Laquon Tredwell would add a size/speed element to the Bears receiving corps that could take the offense up another level or three. Still others seem to be pounding the table for a running back such as Ezekiel Elliott. The Bears could use such a gifted athlete to pair with Jeremy Langford and replace Matt Forte.

Skill positions are often the sexiest to think about in terms of drafting because those are the players that score the points. But teams are often built from the trenches out and the Bears could use help on their offensive line to shore up either tackle spot.

The draft starts one month from today and the Bears could go any number of directions. What I am asking isn't which player do you think the Bears should take but rather which side of the ball needs help most?

Should the Bears take a defensive or an offensive player with their first pick?