B/R Community Mock Draft: Assessing Chicago Bears' Team Needs

While most are impressed with real Bears GM Phil Emery's ability to acquire strong backups like Jason Campbell and Michael Bush, what has gone unnoticed is that, aside from wide receiver, the Bears have not improved their starting lineups this offseason.

And even the wide receiver position needs further bolstering unless fans like to see Brandon Marshall get double-covered a lot.

So as I entered the first-ever Bleacher Report Community Mock Draft as the Bears' mock GM, I had to assess what are the team's needs, and in what priority should we address them in the draft.

I huddled up with veteran B/R Bears Featured Columnist Bob Warja in our war room, and we easily agreed on the following areas of need for the team:

- another wide receiver

- defensive end

- offensive left tackle

- cornerback

- safety

- linebacker

- defensive tackle

This list is not necessarily in order of importance. The positional order will depend on who's left on the board at each of those positions. For example, we wouldn't reach for the third-best wide receiver if the best offensive left tackle was still available.

Bob and I also agreed that if certain players fell to us, even if those positions aren't on our list, we should still consider them. This is the so-called "Best Player Available" draft philosophy. It would be a mistake to automatically disregard a potential stud just because that player doesn't play one of our targeted positions.

So that is our battle plan. As the mock GM, I'd like to be flexible in this Community Mock Draft and improve the team with as many impact players as possible.

We'll see how it goes.