clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Which 2015 Bears Draft pick will improve most in 2016?

Denver Broncos v Chicago Bears Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Much has been made of the improvements that the Bears have made to their roster this offseason.

The Bears added a number of free agents, as well as an entire nine-man draft class.

If the team wants to be built for the longterm and be competitive year-in and year-out then it needs its draft classes to have more hits than misses.

That's been the mantra of Ryan Pace and it's been proved time and time again around the league by the best teams.

So then, as Pace enters year two, it will be a nice time to see if his decent 2015 draft class can show marked improvement in year two.

The big question is last year's No. 7 overall pick Kevin White, who missed the entire season with a mircofracture injury. If White can hit the field and play well, then that's a boon for Pace and the Bears.

However, for the purpose of this article, White doesn't count.

See White is the easy answer because he has no bar to clear. White has never seen a regular season snap, let alone a preseason snap, or even much of a training camp practice for that matter! Anything White provides in 2016 will be a massive improvement over last season.

So no, today we are only looking at the other draft picks.

Which will be the most improved?

One easy candidate is second-rounder Eddie Goldman, who collected 4.5 sacks in 15 games and 12 starts a year ago. Goldman played some very good football and with some better players around him and a year in the system, he could really explode in 2016.

Another top candidate has to be Adrian Amos. The fifth-round safety ended up being a 16-game starter. He showed a lot of promise and had some highlight-reel hits, but if he adds some ballhawking skills, he'll really settle one of the two safety spots for Chicago.

Perhaps it's Jeremy Langford that will improve the most. Now the lead-dog in the Bears' backfield, Langford gets the first crack at replacing Matt Forte. Langford's 3.6 YPC leave a lot to be desired but there is a lot of promise there that he can be a solid back.

For me though, I think the player that will show the biggest improvement is third-round pick Hroniss Grasu. Grasu, the center from Oregon, needed to add strength and the early reports are that he has. He took a lot of lumps as a rookie but with a full offseason of NFL training he could really grab on to the center spot and make it his own. I have high hopes for him and I hope he can really step up.

Which sophomore player do you expect to make a big jump? One of the ones I mentioned, or perhaps one of the UDFAs from last year such as John Timu or Bryce Callahan?