Welcome back to our Glaring Team Needs series! The first week of the season is always the most unpredictable isn't it? Quite a few people are already out of their survivor pools betting against the Bills, Bengals, and Redskins. Just as many didn't see the Bears beating the Falcons as bad as they did. No one saw seven turnovers from the Steelers. Seven! Perhaps that is part of what we love about the NFL, how our expectations can be shattered from week to week. This week we take a look at Chicago, Cincinnati, and San Francisco.
Glaring NFL Team Needs
- Biggest Need: LB The Bears have been an aging defense for a few years. And two of their best defenders,
and
, are two of the oldest members of their great defense. The drop off in talent from these two to the back ups is steep and an elite talent to help bridge the gap when they depart should be chosen soon.
2012 Draft Pick: Manti Te'o, MLB Notre Dame
- Manti is a tremendous athlete that has the potential to be a great replacement for Urlacher down the road.
2. Cincinnati Bengals - Biggest Need: RB Let me be clear up front: I am not a fan of using first round picks on running backs because it is a position that you can get talent and production from just about any point in the draft. Heck, last years rushing leader was undrafted. So while it might not be that early of a pick, the Cedric Benson tenure needs to come to a close. His actions off the field are a big distraction and another top talent to go with their backfield without the distractions would be ideal for this young offense. 2012 Draft Pick: Cyrus Gray, RB Texas A&M Gray is a power back similar to Benson, but also some break away speed that makes him dangerous in the open field.
3. San Francisco 49ers - Biggest Need: S The 49ers currently have a mis-mash of veterans at safety who have been around long enough that we know who they are. And none of them are better than average combined with no more upside. Adding younger talent to the defensive backfield should be a priority. 2012 Draft Pick: Ray Ray Armstrong, SS Miami (FL) For what seems like consecutive years, the safety class doesn't seem to be very deep or top heavy. Armstrong could be the prospect to rise to the top and he has potential to live up to the Hurricane mystic.
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