Top Ten Bears under the most pressure

Even though their season opener is almost four months away, there is no such thing as an offseason in this city when you’re talking about the Bears. And because of some guy named Cutler, who we’ve been told is a pretty good quarterback, the excitement level going into this season is the highest it has been this decade.

On paper, the Bears look a lot better than last year’s 9-7 team. But there are still a lot of questions marks, questions that will need answers if the Bears want to have the kind of season that people are anticipating. With the first day of organized team activities starting today, here are 10 guys who are under the most pressure to perform.

10. Adewale Ogunleye

The Bears had only 28 sacks last year, which tied for 22nd in the league. Ogunleye had a career low five sacks, and there were too many games where he hardly got within five feet of opposing quarterbacks. There’s a reason why the majority of experts say that a pass rushing defensive end is the most critical component in a top defense. Having a great pass rusher makes it a lot easier for your secondary, and it doesn’t require you to blitz your linebackers and safeties as much. With Mark Anderson having fallen off the map, and Alex Brown never being known as a pass rusher, Ogunleye needs to produce for the Bears’ defense to get back to the level they once were at.

9. Whoever plays free safety

With Mike Brown gone, someone from a pool of Craig Steltz, Josh Bullocks and Danieal Manning needs to fill his shoes at the free safety position. That’s hardly an intimidating trio, and when you consider that starting strong safety Kevin Payne is still very much unproven, the Bears better hope that letting Brown go, not drafting a safety until the sixth round, and trading away Chris Harris two years ago don’t all come back to haunt them.

8. Chris Williams

The Bears need to find out what they have in Williams, their first-round pick from a year ago who missed most of last season with a back injury. They apparently felt confident enough in him to not re-sign John St. Clair and to not lose sleep over John Tait’s retirement. Williams doesn’t need to be a star, just a consistent performer at right tackle.

7. Jerry Angelo

Yes, Angelo finally broke free from his ultra-conservative approach and acquired the franchise quarterback that the Bears had been missing since, well ever. No matter how Jay Cutler turns out, Angelo needs to be commended for giving the Bears a chance to become an elite team and giving the city something to get excited about. And signing Orlando Pace, who Scout.com ranks as the league’s 7th best offensive tackle (when healthy), was a great move as well.

But what about the receiving position? Does Angelo really feel confident going into next season with Earl Bennett, who has zero career catches, as his number two receiver? Torry Holt would have fit in perfectly with the team, but Angelo didn’t show much interest in him. Anquan Boldin, Braylon Edwards, and Plaxico Burress are all available in a trade, but again Angelo doesn’t appear to be intrigued by any of them.

6. Nathan Vasher

Is Vasher the player that made the Pro Bowl in 2005 and intercepted eight passes or is he the guy who, due to injuries, has played a total of 12 games these last two years? No one is really sure right now. He’s clearly on the hot seat, in serious danger of losing his starting spot to Corey Graham. It appears the Bears are giving him one more chance to prove he can get back to being the playmaker that he was his first three years. Two years ago, Vasher and Charles Tillman were considered one of the top five cornerback tandems in the NFL. Tillman has kept up his end of the bargain, so now it’s up to Vasher to bounce back.

5. Devin Hester

Remember back in training camp last year when Hester held out for two days, not happy with his $445,000 salary? It scared Bears fans to think what life would be like without Hester returning kickoffs and punts, after he had taken back 13 kicks for scores his first two years in the league. Now, after watching Hester look totally lost last year on his returns and eventually being replaced on kickoff duties by Manning, Bears fans are more concerned with whether Hester can develop into that number one receiver Cutler desperately needs. He showed signs last season, but on every other team in the league, Hester would be no better than a number two, and on more than half the teams, a number three.

4. Tommie Harris

After Jay Cutler, you could make a reasonable argument that Harris is more important to the Bears than any other player. When he was playing at an all-pro level in 05’ and 06’, the Bears were the best defense in the league. Although Harris has a combined 13 sacks these last two years, his impact has been minimal at best. It’s time for Harris to prove that he can stay healthy for an entire season and justify his $40 million dollar contract. If he can regain the form that once had people touting him as one of the game’s most dominant defensive players, it would take a lot of pressure off the rest of the defense.

3. Lovie Smith

This offseason, Smith has axed defensive coaches like Donald Trump has fired people on The Apprentice. Now, with Smith taking over the play-calling duties on defense, we will find out how much Bob Babich really was to blame for the unit’s performance the last two years. People quickly forget that Smith is a combined 42-26 these last four years despite having so much instability at the quarterback position. With very high expectations this season, anything less than a division championship may not be enough to save Smith’s job.

2. Brian Urlacher

It’s pretty simple really for Urlacher: make plays. Last season, Urlacher had zero sacks, a career-low 93 tackles, zero forced fumbles and two interceptions. That won’t cut it from a guy who has better than a 50/50 shot of making it to Canton. It’s probably unrealistic to expect Urlacher to get back to his NFL Defensive Player of the Year award level from 2005. But as a point of reference, compare him to Ray Lewis, who is four years older. Lewis found his fountain of youth last season, and proved that even at 34 he is still one of the game’s best middle linebackers. Urlacher needs to follow a similar path.

1. Jay Cutler

Expect Cutler to face more pressure in this town than any athlete since Michael Jordan. How will Cutler handle the scrutiny that comes with that? We won’t know for a while, but you know how Bears fans are: a couple bad games from Cutler early in the season and the Rick Mirer comparisons will begin. Cutler makes everyone around him better: Matt Forte won’t be seeing nine guys in the box anymore, Hester and Greg Olsen should both make more big plays downfield, and the defense will get more rest, when you consider that the Bears had the third-highest percentage of three-and-outs in the league last year.