If you could pick one old school Bears player to add to the 2020 team...

This latest round table question I shot out to our staff would have fit right in with SB Nation’s “What If” week, but during that week we focused more on changing the past instead of altering the future.

If you could pick one historical Bears player to add to the 2020 team, who would it be?

Today’s question is a simple one. Don’t overthink it by trying to figure out how a player in an era with less advanced medical, nutritional, and athletic training methods would be able to play in this day and age, because greatness is timeless.

The only caveat I placed on this question was if Hall of Fame quarterback Sid Luckman was their choice, they had to give another too. I assumed with the questionable QB play we’ve grown accustomed to seeing in Chicago that several of us would go that route.

Before we get into the picks from my fellow WCG’ers, here’s my guy.

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“Iron” Mike Ditka was a game changing tight end that could do it all. In the running game he was a devastating blocker, and as a receiver he had athleticism, speed, hands, and toughness. He was the total package as a football player and that’s why he was the first tight end to ever be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame. Matt Nagy’s offense places an emphasis on the mismatches that good tight ends can provide, so why not give him the best one to ever wear the Bears’ uniform.

Now let’s check in on who my colleagues have selected.

“I’ve railed against the Bears for failing to address their offensive line ever since their fateful playoff loss to the Eagles. They have a weak offensive front with no legitimate lynchpins or field-tilting stars. One could go as far as to say there’s two outright liabilities (Charles Leno Jr. and Bobby Massie) that I don’t think belong on a championship offensive line. By that distinction, I’d take Jim Covert, put him in a modern nutrition program to bulk up, and have him slot into either tackle spot. Watch the Bears move walls of defensive human mass then. Covert would make certain of it on a play-by-play basis.” ~ Robert Zeglinski

“Honestly, I’m going to be “that guy” and say Jay Cutler. He’d kill it as the QB in this Bears’ offense with the weaponry available between the skill positions. I pounded the table for a coach from the Andy Reid tree to be paired with Jay Cutler during his whole career in Chicago. Go figure that the right coaches for the job are hired long after Cutler was released in 2017.” ~ Erik Christopher Duerrwaechter

Photo by Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

“I don’t know enough about Luckman to pick him (would he adjust well to the new era of football?), so I’m going with Olin Kreutz instead. Yes, theoretically this complicates things with James Daniels, but Kreutz brings an HOF presence to a thin Bears’ offensive line and allows Whitehair to return to what I think is his primary position, left guard. I think the impact of a great Center is underrated in today’s NFL, and this move would lock down the left side of the line while offering Massie, Daniels, and Ifedi a chance to compete for the final 2 spots on the right side.“ ~ Robert Schmitz

“I’m going to go with Matt Forte. While that’s somewhat of a recent pick and it’s not a quarterback, I think someone with Forte’s ability would be a huge help to this offense. Sometimes, I feel like Forte’s time in Chicago was overlooked. While it’s understandable considering their history at the running back position, he is exactly what the team needs right now. A decisive runner with the ability to make plays out of nothing and more importantly, someone who is both a reliable catcher and blocker out of the backfield. I’ve never been one to put a ton of value into the running back position in this day and age, but I feel that someone like Forte would put this offense at least into the “average” category with himself alone.” ~ Aaron Leming

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“Greg Olsen. The Bears need a productive tight end for the reasons I laid out in a previous round table and we know what Olsen was in his prime, which unfortunately we never got to see in a Chicago uniform because he played in mostly garbage offenses. He’d have fit this offense like a glove.” ~ Sam Householder

“If I’m the only one to go with Sid Luckman, do I have to pick someone else? I’ll just say that if you’re not listening to Jeff’s Bears history podcast, you are woefully uninformed about how impressively Luckman’s 1943 shows out when projected to modern-day pass-attempt numbers. For my non-Luckman pick, give me Richard Dent. Dent’s famous “rule of three” decrees you need three good pass rushers to make a good defense. So what do you get when you have three world-beating superstars in Mack, Hicks, and Dent? Let’s just say opposing offenses will be hoping the 2020 season is cancelled (too soon?).” ~ Patti Curl

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“Luckman would definitely be a great choice, assuming his quality of play would translate to the modern style of play. Walter Payton is the greatest player the Bears have ever had, so he would make plenty of sense to bring onto the team, even with the running back position’s devaluation in recent years. If he could put up the numbers he did behind the lackluster offensive lines he ran behind early in his career, then he could surely dominate behind the current group of linemen, as mediocre as it may be.“ ~ Jacob Infante

“How is it anybody else other than Walter Payton?” ~ Jack Salo

“Easiest question I well ever answer, considering we have the single greatest player in the history of the league in our pool of candidates, one that had the speed, power and size to play in any era. Walter Payton would be the best running back in the game no matter what era he played in. Other greats who could play today: Dick Butkus, Bronko Nagurski, Brian Urlacher, Mike Singletary, Gale Sayers, Red Grange, Mike Ditka, Doug Plank, Gary Fencik, I could go on and on we have such a rich tradition.” ~ Ken Mitchell

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Now it’s your turn.

If you could pick one historical Bears player to add to the 2020 team, who would it be?