Wondering about a player, a past game or another issue involving the Bears? Senior writer Larry Mayer answers a variety of questions from fans on ChicagoBears.com.
What type of role do you think that new senior defensive assistant Mike Pettine will fill with the Bears this season?
Steve L.
Wheeling, Illinois
Coach Matt Nagy lauded the addition of veteran defensive coach Mike Pettine this week and revealed that he will act as a sounding board for first-year coordinator Sean Desai in terms of exchanging information related to players, scheme and game-planning. The Bears feel fortunate they were able to land someone with as much experience as Pettine, who has spent two seasons as an NFL head coach with the Browns and nine years as a defensive coordinator with the Jets, Bills and Packers. As soon as Green Bay announced in late January that Pettine would not return, the Bears immediately began to pursue him. General manager Ryan Pace discussed the process Thursday night on the Bears All-Access radio show on WSCR 670-AM, saying: "It's like acquiring a player within your division; you know a lot about him, playing him twice a year. So we know a lot about Mike Pettine and have a ton of respect for him. Matt has a ton of respect for him. When he became available, we were able to act pretty quick … We're excited to have him. He's a really good addition. You can already feel it within the building. He's putting in a ton of reports right now in free agency. His experience and his perspective on things is very valuable for us."
If the top five quarterbacks in the draft are all taken before the Bears pick at No. 20 in the first round, which quarterbacks could be available to them in the second or third round?
Steve C.
Based on some of the mock drafts I've looked at, quarterbacks who could be available in the second round and beyond include Florida's Kyle Trask, Stanford's Davis Mills, Texas A&M's Kellen Mond and Georgia's Jamie Newman. They appear to be the second tier below the top five—Clemson's Trevor Lawrence, BYU's Zach Wilson, Ohio State's Justin Fields, Alabama's Mac Jones and North Dakota State's Trey Lance. Of course, none of the analysts creating the mock drafts are actually picking any players, so we'll just have to wait and see because—as we all know—anything can happen in the draft.
Some mock drafts I've seen have the Bears taking Florida receiver Kadarius Toney in the first round and Florida quarterback Kyle Trask in the second. Have the Bears ever spent their first two picks on players from the same college?
Kevin T.
Dyer, Indiana
The Bears have chosen college teammates with their first two picks three times since the inception of the draft in 1936. The most recent occasion was in 2001 when they selected Michigan receiver David Terrell in the first round and running back Anthony Thomas in the second. The other two instances were in 1948 with Texas quarterback Bobby Layne and end Max Bumgardner both in the first round, and in 1971 with Missouri running backs Joe Moore in the first round and Jim Harrison in the second.
Chalk Talk features fan questions multiple times each week. Email your question to Larry.
