Alliance... » It waited until the sixth round on Saturday.

LAKE FOREST Josh Bellamy Jersey , Ill. (AP)While the Chicago Bears addressed one need at linebacker early in the NFL draft, their problem at outside pass rusher had to wait.Bears general manager Ryan Pace turned largely to the defensive side in the final day with three selections, including sixth-round defensive end Kylie Fitts from Utah.Before Fitts, the Bears selected Western Kentucky inside linebacker Joel Iyiegbuniwe in Round 4, and Delaware defensive tackle Bilal Nichols in Round 5. They closed out the draft in the seventh round by taking another target for quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, Georgia wide receiver Javon Wims.After grabbing Georgia standout inside linebacker Roquan Smith with the No. 8 overall pick on Thursday, the Bears drafted Iowa center James Daniels with the 39th pick on Friday, then traded up to select Memphis receiver Anthony Miller at No. 51.Yet there was no outside pass rush help until they took Fitts as the Bears stuck to their draft board instead of moving up or reaching for a player at a position of need.”You’ve just got to be careful that you don’t force these things,” Pace said. ”I’m glad we attacked needs, but we also took best players on the board.”Now they’ll be left to rely on free agent acquisition Aaron Lynch and third-year linebacker Leonard Floyd for an outside pass rush, while considering remaining unrestricted free agents or undrafted free agents.Overall, productive safe picks replaced potential and risky selections for Chicago, as Pace made only one trade in his first draft since Matt Nagy became coach.Last year, Pace traded up to select Trubisky with the second pick of the draft after Trubisky had just 13 college starts. He picked fast, undersized pass rusher Floyd in the first round in 2016, and in 2015 drafted inexperienced wide receiver Kevin White. White has played in five NFL games due to injuries.The Bears finished last in the NFC North for the fourth straight year and have missed the playoffs every season since 2010, leading to the firing of coach John Fox. They haven’t posted a winning record since 2012, Lovie Smith’s final year.INJURY QUESTIONSA defensive end in Utah’s 4-3 formation, Fitts has more than his inexperience in the Bears’ 3-4 scheme to overcome. He had a Lisfranc ligament tear in his foot in 2016 and played in only two games http://www.thebearslockerroom.com/authentic-anthony-miller-jersey , then had shoulder and ankle sprains last year.Fitts called the injuries the reason he dropped from a projected pick in the third or fifth rounds to the sixth.”It was just a run of bad luck and I think I got it all out of the way,” Fitts said. ”I think it definitely made me into a stronger man and I’m healthy now and I’m excited to play for the Bears.”OVERLOOKED AGAINGoing undrafted until the final round gave Georgia’s Wims a familiar overlooked feeling.When the Bears’ seventh-round pick came out of high school, he had to go to NAIA Belhaven after only one year of high school football and because of poor grades. Wims left Belhaven for Hinds Junior College, earned a scholarship to Georgia, and helped lead the Bulldogs to the national title game last year with team highs of 45 catches, 720 yards and nine touchdowns.INSIDE CONNECTIONDelaware’s Nichols has a real inside Bears connection. Nagy is a Delaware grad, as is Bears offensive assistant Brian Ginn, who played quarterback and was an assistant for the Blue Hens.”Coach Ginn, he’s an awesome guy,” Nichols said. ”He was one of the guys that helped recruit me at Delaware. Unbelievable guy, great guy.”STILL NEEDAdditional outside pass rushers are needed because the Bears like to use a rotation of three or four outside rushers. Fitts joins Howard Jones, Isaiah Irving and Sam Acho as potential outside pass rushers behind Lynch and Floyd.Veterans Lamarr Houston, Pernell McPhee and Willie Young accounted for 10 Bears sacks last year but are no longer with the team.— There’s a whole lot of talk coming out of Philadelphia and not very much from Chicago, but that’s OK... Sunday’s coming..."BEAR DOWN, CHICAGO BEARS, BEAR DOWN!!!!BEARRRSSSSMullin: Greatest Bears turnaround coach ever? Da Coach? Lovie? Nagy? You make the call - NBC Sports Chicago - Coaching changes are made expressly for purposes of effecting a turnaround, a reversal of failing fortunes. Sometimes they work, most of the time they don’t. The Bears bear (pun intended) witness to that.Stankevitz' film review: How Kyle Long's return could power Jordan Howard against Eagles' stout D-line - NBC Sports Chicago - Kyle Long's return to the Bears' starting lineup helped pave the way for Jordan Howard's longest run of the season, and could be a major boost on Sunday against a stout Eagles defensive line.Ellis: Antonio Brown on the Bears would be fun Womens Sherrick McManis Jersey , but there are a bunch of reasons why it's unrealistic - NBC Sports Chicago - There are plenty (seriously there are a lot) of people out there who think that the Bears should go after Brown. That's not a bad thing! Hypothetical, Maddenesque trades are part of what makes sports fun and the last time Bears fans 'shipped an All-Pro to their team it actually happened, so what's wrong a little heat check every now and then.Stankevitz: Why the Bears don't see a lack of playoff experience as being a factor - NBC Sports Chicago - The Bears haven't played a playoff game together as a team, but have enough players and coaches with playoff experience to feel comfortable heading into this weekend.Mayer: Bears are NFL’s top team in Aikman Ratings - ChicagoBears.com - According to the Aikman Efficiency Ratings, which rank NFL offenses and defenses based on several different categories and not just total yards, the Bears finished the regular season as the best team in the league.Mayer: Playoffs will be business as usual for Bears - ChicagoBears.com - Matt Nagy knows from experience that the playoffs are a different animal than the regular season, but the Bears coach will not change his team’s approach or preparation heading into the postseason.Bears launching new playoff show - ChicagoBears.com - The Bears this week will debut “Monsters of the Midway Live,” a new playoff show hosted by Lauren Screeden and featuring analysts Tom Thayer and Larry Mayer.Kaufman: Where Bears team, players rank in the NFL - ChicagoBears.com - Take a look at where the Bears stacked up both as a team and individually in the NFL rankings after wrapping up the regular season.Dannehy: Trubisky Can Lead Bears to Something Special - Da Bears Blog - That was the message from Matt Nagy after thoroughly kicking the butt of a team that fully expected to be contending for the Super Bowl this season. The Bears didn’t just knock the Vikings out of the playoffs. They offered a glimpse of how talented they actually are.Riddick picks Bears to win Super Bowl - ESPN Video - Louis Riddick doesn't expect the Bears to lose another game this season, culminating in a Super Bowl victory in February.Potash: Sky’s the limit for Bears’ defense after Minnesota masterpiece - Sun Times - The last time a defense ranked in the top-10 in every major category was the 2013 Seahawks, who won the Super Bowl that season.Finley: One year after firing John Fox, it's clear Bears found right voice in Matt Nagy | Chicago Sun-Times - The Bears fired John Fox a year ago Tuesday.Kane: Bears veterans Akiem Hicks and Prince Amukamara are savoring playoff life, a year after ‘emotional’ end to 2017 season - Chicago Tribune - Bears cornerback Prince Amukamara knows how hard it is to get into the playoffs, and he'll impress that upon his younger teammates this week as the Bears prepare for the Eagles.Campbell: 5 observations from rewatching Bears-Vikings - 3rd-down dominance, Kyle Long's and Jordan Howard's promising performances and more - Chicago Tribune - Five observations from rewatching the Bears' 24-10 win over the Vikings include Mitch Trubisky's improvement avoiding sacks, Kyle Long's quality return, Jordan Howard's re-emergence, Cody Parkey's inaccuracy and two decisions against Kevin White.Biggs' NFL power rankings: Saints still at the top with the Bears No. 2 in final standings - Chicago Tribune - The Saints keep the top spot, while the Bears remain No. 2 in Brad Biggs' final NFL power rankings of the 2018 season.Meet the Philadelphia Eagles (with Zack Rosenblatt of The No-Huddle Show) - The Chicago Audible Podcast - The Chicago Audible kicks off their wildcard preview by gaining a firsthand scouting report with everything you need to know about the Philadelphia Eagles.POLISH SAUSAGERanking NFL coaching vacancies: Browns Charles Leno Jersey , Packers most alluring - NFL.com - With a quarter of the league’s teams looking for a new head coach, which of the available jobs is most appealing? Judy Battista reveals her ranking of the eight vacancies.Five teams can be forced to do Hard Knocks – ProFootballTalk - The last thing most NFL coaches want during training camp is to be followed everywhere they go by cameras and microphones. Which means NFL teams rarely volunteer to appear on Hard Knocks, the behind-the-scenes reality show that documents training camp.5 potential offensive coordinator candidates for the Detroit Lions - Pride Of Detroit - A look at five different coaches that could replace Jim Bob Cooter.Jim Bob Cooter will not return as Detroit Lions offensive coordinator - Pride Of Detroit - After 2.5 years, the Lions offensive coordinator has been relieved of his duties.NFL Power Rankings: Who are the best teams in the 2019 playoffs? - Pride Of Detroit - Ranking the 12 teams still alive in the race to the Super Bowl.Vikings Off-Season Evaluation: Special Teams Coach - Daily Norseman - Mike Priefer has been special teams coach for the Vikings since 2011.In all those years, he has coached fundamentally sound special teams units.He’s been instrumental in drafting kickers twice...Vikings Off-Season Evaluation: Defensive Coordinator - Daily Norseman - Evaluating Vikings defensive coordinator George Edwards has always been something of a difficult task from the outside - because it’s hard to know just what his duties are - except we know...Report: Tampa Bay Buccaneers request to interview Vikings DC George Edwards - Daily Norseman - Another Vikings’ assistant gets a requestPro Football Focus does their postmortem of the 2018 Vikings - Daily Norseman - And it’s a lot deeper than "OMG IT’S ALL KIRK COUSINS’ FAULT!"KNOW THY ENEMYMike Groh talks familiarity with Chicago’s defense, and Eagles’ recent offensive success - Bleeding Green Nation - Plus, the Eagles offensive coordinator talked about Alshon Jeffery’s development.Jim Schwartz says Rasul Douglas and the state of the Eagles’ defense share a connection - Bleeding Green Nation - Plus, he talked a little bit about the plethora of open head coaching jobs right now.Recent trends highlight battle between Eagles’ offense and Bears’ defense - Bleeding Green Nation - The opposing units have been moving the needle...Eagles vs. Bears: Thoughts on Philadelphia’s wild card opponent - Bleeding Green Nation - Previewing the enemy. Ken's Note: Only one of these two teams are a wildcard, and it ain't us.Mike McCarthy will interview for Jets’ head coaching job, per report - Acme Packing Company - Will Mac go from the NFL’s smallest market to its biggest?NFC North Rundown: Regular season comes to a close, only Bears make playoffs - Acme Packing Company - A demoralizing home loss to the Bears with the playoffs on the line ended Minnesota’s season prematurely.IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRONWiltfong: Bears’ fans, bring Nagy’s BOOM to Soldier Field - Windy City Gridiron - Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun Times wrote that Chicago Bears’ head coach Matt Nagy first did his, now signature “Boom,” after the Thanksgiving day win in Detroit. Nagy said the Boom “happened...Duerrwaechter: Giving credit where credit is due - Windy City Gridiron - It’s only fair to recognize everyone involved in the front office, and not just the obvious names, for a historic turnaround in Chicago.Wiltfong’s NFL Power Rankings: Are the Bears the hottest team in the NFL? - Windy City Gridiron - Now that the 2018 NFL season is over, let’s take a final trip around the internet to see how the experts ranked the Bears.Defending the Bears’ RPO concepts - Bleeding Green Nation - What Jim Schwartz can do to limit Nagy’s staple RPOs...Schmitz’ Bear With Me: Vikings and Eagles and Playoff Bears, Oh My! Vikings Review, Eagles Preview http://www.thebearslockerroom.com/authentic-joel-iyiegbuniwe-jersey , Nick Foles Deep Dive, News Recap - Windy City Gridiron - On the latest episode of Bear With Me, Robert reflects on a statement Vikings win before previewing the upcoming game against the Eagles. He dives deep into Nick Foles and asks the burning question: How has a “backup quarterback” been able to play so well?Sunderbruch: 10 Thoughts on the NFL and the Bears - Windy City Gridiron - With the regular season over, WCG is resting a starter and letting a backup take a tour around the NFL.WCG CONTRIBUTORS BEARS PODCASTS & STREAMS2 Minute Drill - Website - iTunes - Andrew Link; Steven’s Streaming – Twitch – Steven Schweickert; T-Formation Conversation - Website - iTunes - Lester Wiltfong, Jr.; WCG Radio - Website - iTunes - Robert ZeglinskiTHE RULESWindy City Gridiron Community Guidelines - SBNation.com - We strive to make our communities open and inclusive to sports fans of all backgrounds. The following is not permitted in comments. No personal attacks, politics, gender based insults of any kind, racial insults, etc.The Bear’s Den Specific Guidelines – The Bear’s Den is a place for Chicago Bears fans to discuss Chicago Bears football, related NFL stories, and general football talk. It is NOT a place to discuss religion or politics or post political pictures or memes. Unless otherwise stated, the Den is not an open thread, and profanity (including profanity only stated in pictures) is prohibited.Click on our names to follow us on Twitter:WCG Contributors: Jeff Berckes; Patti Curl; Eric Christopher Duerrwaechter;Kev H; Sam Householder; Jacob Infante; Aaron Lemming; Ken Mitchell; Steven Schweickert; Jack Silverstein; EJ Snyder; Lester Wiltfong, Jr.; Whiskey Ranger; Robert Zeglinski; Like us on Facebook.