5 Young Chicago Bears Who Will Be Expected to Play Like Vets on Sunday

When the Bears face off against the Falcons in their home opener on Sunday, the team will be under close scrutiny.  The Bears are a popular pick to take a step backwards in 2011, to no one's surprise.

A lot of the the skepticism revolving around the Bears is due the the inexperience and youth of some of the players at key positions on this team.  Ten of Chicago's scheduled starters either were not on top of the depth chart or started at a different position last season.

These players could very well make or break this unit early, especially given the grueling September schedule for the Bears.  If these inexperienced youth play to their potential, the Bears could end up being the class of the NFC.  

But if they falter, the Bears could end up dropping off steeply from last season, missing the playoffs and possibly even a winning record in the process.

So follow me as we take a look at five young Chicago Bears who will be expected to play like veterans on Sunday.

Gabe Carimi

The Bears 2011 first round pick will be baptized by fire immediately when he takes the field against the Falcons underrated defensive line.

Gabe Carimi will have no room for error.

His pass protection skills will be tested, but it will really be the Bears need to run that will define this young studs day.

In order to open up Martz's high flying aerial attack, the Bears are going to have to move the ball on the ground.  Last season, the Bears did rather well rushing to the left behind Chris Williams and Frank Omiyale, but had problems getting push off the right side of the line from Roberto Garza and J'Marcus Webb.

The Bears need more than that to prevent teams from cheating out of the box and Carimi has to be the catalyst for change on the right side.  

The young mauler excelled as a run blocker at Wisconsin and looked good in preseason matchups in this role, so there is reason to be positive.

Henry Melton

In 2005 and 2006, the Bears were the most dominant defense in the league.  The teams defense managed to drag the Bears and their inconsistent to non-existent offence to consecutive playoffs appearances and an NFC championship.

A large part of that success was due to incredible play at one of the most important positions in Lovie Smith's scheme.  A pre-injury Tommie Harris was scaring quarterbacks and offensive linemen from the 3-Tech position in a dominant fashion.

But the Harris of old is long gone, recently cut by the Indianapolis Colts after being released by the Bears.  In his place is a recently enlarged Henry Melton, who the class-act former Bears is very supportive of.

After adding 35 pounds in the offseason through an odd but effective training regiment with his uncle, former Denver Bronco Ray Crockett, Melton is not the starting 3-Tech in Chicago.

To get back to being a special defense, the Bears will need Melton to channel his Harris and create enough havoc in the middle of the line to create opportunities for defensive ends Israel Idonije and Julius Peppers, rather than Peppers being forced to create opportunities for the rest of the line.

Lance Louis

Third-year right guard Lance Louis had the support of Mike Tice last season and was expected to take over the spot for the aging but reliable veteran Roberto Garza, who was moved to the left guard spot in an attempt shore up a catastrophic offensive line.

Louis fell flat and facilitated the move to left guard for Chris Williams when the Bears found the needed to move Garza back to the right guard position.

While that may have turned out well (so far) for Williams, Louis rode the pine for the remainder of the year.

Given another chance at the starting spot on the depth chart, Louis has to perform like a veteran. 

Last season, Louis allowed a sack, four quarterback hits and nine quarterback pressures in just five starts.  The Bears and quarterback Jay Cutler cannot survive a repeat of that performance.

To his credit, Louis graded out well against the run last year, and was the teams best screen-blocker.  But his pass blocking must be vastly improved for the Bears to be successful against the Falcons.

Major Wright

As important as the 3-Tech position is the Lovie Smith's defense, the free safety spot is just as important.

Those dominant defenses that we discussed earlier featured Mike Brown, who was fantastic in his play for the Bears before injuries derailed his career.  In fact, were it not for Brian Urlacher being taken in the same draft, many believe that Brown would have been the leagues defensive rookie of the year in 2000.

Now the Bears have moved last years NFL leader in interceptions by a safety, Chris Harris, back to his natural position of strong safety in favor of second year pro Major Wright taking over the free safety job.

The preseason didn't go well for Wright and the writing may be on the wall after the Bears signed Brandon Meriweather earlier this week.  But as of right now, the Job is Wright's to lose.

The bears need Wright to make plays in the passing game and tune up his tackling and angles against the run in order to be successful.  With Meriweather breathing down his neck, Wright needs that to happen, as well.

J'Marcus Webb

Webb was sort of thrown to the wolves last year the way Carimi will be this season.  The big problem was that, unlike Carimi, Webb was extremely raw.

Projected as a natural left tackle due to his athleticism, Webb struggled playing on the right side.  His raw technique didn't help, and he became a symbol for all that was wrong with the Chicago offense.

This year, the Bears are betting on Webb as the future at left tackle.  

His preseason started out rough against the Bills, but Webb showed considerable improvement in each subsequent game.

He replaces Frank Omiyale, who led all tackles in 2010 in sacks allowed and thus didn't set the bar too high for Webb.  

But the Bears are not only expecting but are needing far more out of Webb than marginal improvement of Omiyale.  Protecting Cutler's blindside is of the utmost importance and Mike Martz's scheme requires time for plays to develop.  

The Bears offense was dragged down by the trench-minders last year, and the Bears cannot afford a repeat performance from that unit.  Webb has to be at the center of any improvement the unit shows or the Bears could be in for a very long year.

And now it's your turn, ladies and gentlemen.  Step up on the soapbox below—known as the comment thread—and let us know what you think.  Sound off!