Here is the second installment of the Chicago Bears twitter mailbag. Have a great rest of the weekend.
@DickersonESPN Do you see the bears keeping 6 or 7 Defensive backs ?#bearsmailbag
— Brandon Moss (@brandonmoss587) May 28, 2015@DickersonESPN: Generally, NFL teams keep about 10 or 11 defensive backs on the 53-man roster. By Week 17 of last year, the Bears had six cornerbacks and five safeties on the active roster. Off the top of my head, I count five defensive backs that appear to be locks to make the team -- Kyle Fuller, Tim Jennings, Antrel Rolle, Ryan Mundy and Adrian Amos. Throw in possibly Alan Ball, Demontre Hurst, Brock Vereen, Sherrick McManis and Al Louis-Jean, and the Bears should easily keep more than six or seven in the secondary. Plus, the Bears need extra defensive backs to play special teams.
@DickersonESPN Realistically how long is it going to take for the Bears to acquire the right players needed for the 3-4 D #Bearsmailbag
— Near Extinction (@Prof_PhatPhat) May 28, 2015@DickersonESPN: I look at rebuilding the defense as a two-year project, minimum. The Bears simply need another offseason to find players to fit their scheme. Pernell McPhee, Fuller, maybe Christian Jones; these are nice building blocks, but a defense can't function with three or four good players. From an optimistic point of view, perhaps Jennings has a bounce back year, or Jared Allen thrives at outside linebacker, or Jeremiah Ratliff stays healthy -- but those are only what-ifs. The Bears were awful on defense the last two seasons. That's hard to fix overnight. I expect the Bears to improve defensively in 2015, but theses coaches are not miracle workers.
@DickersonESPN If it doesn't look like Cutler will bounce back, how quickly will Bears go Tank-for-a-QB mode? #bearsmailbag
— Rich Anthony (@True_Rys) May 28, 2015@DickersonESPN: It's a fair question, Rich, but I doubt the Bears tank it. They won't have to. If Jay Cutler struggles in the fall, the Bears may not win a ton of games. How confident are you in Jimmy Clausen? Or David Fales? Or some veteran currently out of a job coaching high school football the Bears will probably have to sign if Cutler falters? Cutler needs to deliver. He knows that. The Bears have surrounded him with a top-flight offensive coordinator (Adam Gase) and a pretty good collection of skill position players to work with. It's now or never. Even though the Bears are technically rebuilding, the coaching staff badly wants to win this year. John Fox isn't getting any younger.