Rough Edges in Bears Draft Need Smoothing

Bears coach Matt Eberflus and GM Ryan Poles have spoken at length about how much confidence they have in the teaching ability of the coaching staff they've hired.

They've given these coaches plenty to do.

A bottom-heavy draft with eight players chosen at No. 168 or later means everything for coaches to address from players who must change positions to those who simply lack playing experience to those who are well down the list in terms of talent.

A perfect example is the task put on defensive line coach Travis Smith's plate when they selected Miami defensive end Dominique Robinson No. 174 overall in Round 5.

"We wouldn't have selected that player if we didn't believe in our coaching staff, we didn't see the upside in the player," Eberflus said. "Again, I always refer back to the very beginning when we stood up and said we try to say what we mean and be transparent. We brought a lot of good teachers in this building, so that's where it pays off."

Robinson is a physical specimen and an explosive athlete at 6-foot-4, 252 pounds but played defense only one full season and three games in another. He is the player who came to Miami (Ohio) as a quarterback.

Dramatic Position Switch

"Yeah so I got recruited as a quarterback/athlete to Miami it was my only offer," Robinson said. "Took the offer. Graduated early, went in the spring, had an opportunity to move to wide receiver so I took it because I wasn't getting as much reps at quarterback.

"Playing wide receiver for three seasons and things didn't pan out at the end of 2019, so I ended up talking to my head coach about moving to defensive end and I made that move. What propelled me to make that move was, I watched, I had a (friend), Jamal Davis, we are similar, alike, build. They was like, 'Man, you can do that.' Some of my teammates were like, 'Bro, you could play defense.' I always had it in the back of my head, then I'm watching Chase Young running around people, so, thought that I could do it. So, here we are."

If nothing else, Robinson is completely honest.

"I consider myself to be really, really raw," he said.

However, he was able to get 6 1/2 total sacks in his season and then the three-game 2020 season.

"I've been working on some new stuff," he said. "I was a one-dimensional player, kind of. I only had one move throughout college. I wanted to add some power. I wanted to add some things that come off of power, and I think I've been doing that pretty well on a consistent basis during this off time."

To get beter, he has worked on his own with personal D-Line coach Nathan O'Neal and began studying pass rushers, including one the Bears know very well.

"I've been watching Leonard Floyd a little bit," he said. "I've been watching T.J. Watt. I know you get better by watching some of the best players in your position, so I've been watching Myles Garrett. Those guys are very explosive, very good with their hands, very good with doing different things and that’s what I plan to try to bring."

Floyd has developed with the Rams, although he had established a reputation for not being able to close out sacks in Chicago.

"My agent kind of helped me out with finding people who are similar to my build and do things, kind of move the way that I move," Robinson said. "I move like he moves. We're built the same, kind of longer body guys. He has some nice moves that I definitely want to take and start crafting and put them in my arsenal."

The enormity of his switch in college shows how much he wanted to succeed. There was a possibility he might be a contributing receiver because he had made 27 receptions in his first two years at school. He had expected a bigger impact, however.

"The thought when I was making the switch was I wanted to make plays," Robinson said. "I've been a playmaker all my life and when I was not able to get the ball to make plays at wide receiver, I knew I needed to put myself in a position to make plays without having the ball in my hand. I knew that the defense was the best way to do that and that's what I did."

Eberflus does know pass rushers and sees the ingredients, no matter how raw.

"This guy is long, he's flexible, he can dip, he's fairly new to the position, but you saw the flashes," Eberflus said. "An old mentor of mine told me when it comes to defensive players, grade the flashes. You can develop that. If you do it once, you can do it again.

"So, we all saw that and I'm excited to see what kind of player he turns into."

More Projects in Rest of Draft

Robinson isn't the only lab experiment type among this class, although none are as dramatic.

Seventh-rounder Elijah Hicks has only one year of experience at safety after three at cornerback, so he's less experienced at his position than Robinson.

They're talking of moving tackles Zachary Thomas and J'atyre Carter to guard. Although it should be an easier adjustment than Robinson made, Thomas played only two games at guard and those were in the 2018 season. Then he played two years at right tackle before finishing in 2021 at left tackle.

With Carter, the move from tackle is necessary. He probably lacks the arm length for tackle with 33 1/2-inch arms, and is only 6-3. At 311 pounds, he's about ideal weight for guards in this scheme. His athleticism is ideal to block the wide-zone because he ran 5.03 seconds in the 40 and startled scouts by doing a 34 1/2-inch vertical leap. That's not common for offensive linemen, but it probably made sense because he was a converted high school tight end.

Regardless, it's another player coaches will need to work with to implement change.

With so many conversion projects and with eight selections between 168 and 255 in the draft, the Bears might not be able to count on some of these players until coaches their hands on them. However, Poles said the were taken because scouts in many cases liked their mental makeup to succeed in difficult situations as much as they liked their physical traits.

"I won't put limitations on where they're going to fit," Poles said. "Maybe a process where you start depth and work your way into a starter. It may work that way. There's going to be some surprises. We see that across the league all the time where guys shoot to the top quickly and earn that trust and they make plays and they're rolling.

"Obviously you hope for the best, but there might be a process. It takes time. This league’s extremely hard and tough. There's a lot thrown at these guys, but that's why we really emphasize the makeup that they have inside of them because they're willing to go through the hard times, they're willing to listen, they're willing to put their pride away and start from the bottom and work up."