NFL draft preview: No bigger need than edge rusher for Bears

Last in a series

Aside from quarterbacks, no players get pushed up draft boards more than edge rushers.

In a QB-driven league, the only way to compete against top-tier passers is by finding players who can neutralize them. That means acquiring pass rushers who can get quarterbacks on the ground, hurry them or get them out of their comfort zones.

Even edge rushers who can't do much other than get after the passer can get meaningful snaps in most defenses. Many of them are specialists, but much like closers in baseball, they can have a profound effect on the game.

Edge rushers, especially in the Bears' 3-4 scheme, are outside linebackers who play in a two-point stance at the line of scrimmage and are predominantly concerned with rushing the passer. But there are still a lot of 4-3 defensive ends who play from a three-point stance with their hand in the dirt and have run-stopping responsibilities but qualify as edge rushers.

Leonard Floyd is the Bears' only proven edge rusher, but he hasn't proven that he can stay healthy and was limited to walking around on the sidelines during the just-completed minicamp. If his 11½ sacks over 22 career games were extrapolated over two 16-game seasons, it would be an impressive total, but that's not the way it works.

Aaron Lynch signed a one-year, make-good deal in free agency. He had 12½ sacks in his first two seasons but just 2½ in the next two. If defensive coordinator Vic Fangio can get maximum production out of Lynch, as he did in 2014 with the 49ers, the Bears will have an upgrade at their weakest position.

Sam Acho has been a valuable backup in his three years with the Bears, and he's started 25 games because of frequent injuries to other players. But Acho has produced a total of four sacks as a Bear.

Howard Jones had five sacks as a Bucs rookie in 2015, but he's had just one since. The fact that Isaiah Irving is listed on the depth chart illustrates how little depth the Bears have. He had two tackles last year as an undrafted rookie.

Day One: North Carolina State's Bradley Chubb is one of the top three players in the draft and a safe pick, even at No. 1 overall. He's better suited as a 4-3 right defensive end, but he has the skill set to also dominate as a 3-4 outside linebacker.

Chubb won't be there when the Bears pick at No. 8, but Virginia Tech's Tremaine Edmunds should be. He is listed as an inside linebacker or middle linebacker on some draft sites. But his physical attributes and skill set scream "edge rusher." Edmunds is 6-foot-5, 253 pounds, has 34½-inch arms, ran a 4.54 at the combine and benched 225 pounds 19 times. And he's 19 years old. Maybe he won't be an elite pass rusher in 2018, but he could be a holy terror soon, and for a long time.

Day Two: Georgia's Lorenzo Carter has been projected to the Bears in the second round of some mocks, but he's a work in progress with a modest 15 sacks in four years. Physically, he looks a lot like his former Bulldog teammate, the Bears' lanky, 6-foot-4, 240-pound Floyd.

Carter is even taller and skinner than Floyd, at 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, and he might be a better athlete, but he doesn't have Floyd's explosive quickness. Carter ran a 4.50 40, had a 10-foot-10 broad jump, a 36-inch vertical and has 34-inch arms. But he needs more strength and power.

Draft evaluators list LSU's Arden Key anywhere from the late first round to the fourth round because there are so many questions about his football character. Any team that rolls the dice on him in the first round is flirting with disaster because he has monumental bust potential that early.

Key had 12 sacks in 2016 but just four in 2017, when he left the team during spring practice, put on a ton of weight and, when he came back, often looked like he was going through the motions and playing not to get hurt, so as to save himself for the draft.

What he actually did was drop his draft stock by a full round, maybe more. But he is 6-5, and at 238 has potential as an edge rusher. Still, after running 4.89 at LSU's pro day, he proved that he isn't nearly as physically gifted as he looked in 2016.

Day Three: Florida State's Josh Sweat passes the eyeball test with flying colors, but teams are concerned with the health of his left knee, which was severely injured in high school and nicked up again in 2016. He still could get much earlier, but if Sweat falls, perhaps Ryan Pace could get a great value similar to Eddie Jackson, whose fall to Round Four was the result of a broken leg in 2016.

Sweat is 6-4, 251 pounds, has 34½-inch arms, and he ran a 4.53 40 at the combine and had a 39½-inch vertical. He had a modest total of 10 sacks over the past two seasons. He needs to get a lot stronger and some hard coaching before he contributes in the NFL, but there are a lot of tools to work with, if his knee holds up.

Bears depth chart:

Edge rushers: Leonard Floyd; Aaron Lynch; Sam Acho; Howard Jones; Isaiah Irving

Need: Urgent.

Bears picks: Round 1 (eighth overall); Round 2 (39th); Round 4 (105th) and (115th); Round 5 (145th); Round 6 (181st); Round 7 (224th)

2018 salary-cap situation: The Bears were 20th in LB spending at $17.693 million, according to spotrac.com, before adding Lynch's $3.719 million. Among the outside linebackers/edge rushers, only Floyd makes more this year than Lynch, at $4.304 million. After playing on three straight one-year deals, Acho got a two-year, $5.5-million contract that pays him $2.75 million this year.

• Bob LeGere is a senior writer at Pro Football Weekly. Follow Bob's Bears reports on Twitter @BobLeGere or @PFWeekly.