{"id":827251,"date":"2026-03-22T14:55:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T14:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/827251\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T14:55:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T14:55:39","slug":"chicago-bears-fans-think-defensive-end-is-their-biggest-remaining-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/827251\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Bears fans think defensive end is their biggest remaining need"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Monday, we asked you guys to vote for the Chicago Bears\u2019 biggest remaining need, and more than half of you said defensive end, which is exactly how I voted. The entire defensive line unit received 84% of the vote, which would jibe with what Bill wrote earlier this week<\/a> when he shared his concerns about the position group.<\/p>\n

The current Bears depth chart at the defensive end is Montez Sweat and Austin Booker as the starters, and\u2026<\/p>\n

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That\u2019s really all they should count on, if we\u2019re being honestk which is why 54% of you picked EDGE.<\/p>\n

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Dayo Odeyingbo tore his Achilles tendon on November 2, and depending on the severity of the rupture, it could take up to a year to return. He also tore his Achilles in January of 2021 while preparing for the NFL Draft, and he didn\u2019t return until October 31 that year. So if it\u2019s a similar injury, he may make it back for the season opener in September, but that\u2019s the best-case scenario.<\/p>\n

Shemar Turner started to get some reps off the edge before he tore his ACL on October 26, and that could also be a 12-month recovery time. Again, the best-case scenario is that he\u2019s back this summer and can be ready for week one.<\/p>\n

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But even if Dayo and Turner are cleared, would they be able to handle a full workload? Odds are they\u2019d be eased back into the lineup while they get their conditioning right.<\/p>\n

Also off the edge for the Bears is Daniel Hardy, but he\u2019s mostly around for his special teams, and practice squad contenders Jonathan Garvin, Jamree Kromah, and Jeremiah Martin.<\/p>\n

The Bears need at least one trustworthy defensive end, which I expect to come early in the NFL Draft, and depending on the rehab of the aforementioned injured ends, they may also need to add a vet.<\/p>\n

Our partners at FanDuel Sportsbook<\/a> have a couple of prop bets available about the draft, and as we get closer to round one on April 23, I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll have a few more.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your best guess for the Bears\u2019 direction at 25 overall? Defensive end, defensive tackle, or something else?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Monday, we asked you guys to vote for the Chicago Bears\u2019 biggest remaining need, and more than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":827252,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2070],"tags":[7240,374,692,391,2493,21168,593,15093,7,5629,8578,42017,39550,8554,6,1163,8238],"class_list":["post-827251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-bears","tag-austin-booker","tag-bears","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-bears","tag-chicagobears","tag-daniel-hardy","tag-dayo-odeyingbo","tag-defensive-end","tag-football","tag-getty-images","tag-icon-sportswire","tag-jamree-kromah","tag-jonathan-garvin","tag-montez-sweat","tag-nfl","tag-shemar-turner","tag-the-nfl-draft"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116273413421928838","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=827251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/827252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=827251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=827251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=827251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}