Fangio says Bears' defensive cupboard is not bare
Just in case he didn't already know it, Vic Fangio was informed from the get-go that he had a major rebuilding job to do as Bears defensive coordinator, and he didn't have much of a foundation on which to build.
"It was told to me early on when I got here that they've given up more yards and points the last two years than anybody in the league," Fangio said after Saturday morning's rookie minicamp practice. "So we're going to have to make our own building blocks.
"Any time you come to a new place, the first job is to make the players you already have better. That's our job, No. 1, before you talk about free agency and the draft and whatnot."
Switching from the Bears' previous 4-3 defense to the 3-4 scheme that Fangio favors adds a degree of difficulty to the job.
Fangio doesn't have the talent he worked with the past four years in San Francisco while coordinating a 49ers defense that routinely finished in the top five in points and yards allowed, But the Bears' defensive cupboard wasn't left completely bare by the previous regime.
"Kyle Fuller had a nice year as a rookie," Fangio said. "We expect him to be a good corner in this league. I think (Shea) McClellin and Christian Jones have some talent, and they should be able to find a spot in our defense somewhere.
"(Jeremiah) Ratliff is still a good player in this league, always has been. I don't see him slowing down. He should be able to find a spot for us and be an integral player for us."
Some of that assessment would seem to fall in the category of "wishful thinking."
Ratliff will be 34 before the regular season kicks off, and he has missed 26 games over the previous three seasons because of injuries.
Fuller showed flashes of talent as a rookie in 2014, which was expected from the first-round pick, but he also experienced growing pains. Jones was perhaps the most pleasant surprise in another down year for defense. Undrafted out of Florida State, he played in all 16 games and started five times.
McClellin's circuitous journey will continue with yet another position change. The 2012 first-round pick out of Boise State was a nondescript defensive end his first two years and then moved to outside linebacker in 2014 with mixed results. This year he will start out as an inside linebacker in Fangio's 3-4 scheme.
"He's got good size," Fangio said of the 6-foot-3, 245-pound McClellin. "He's got good athletic ability. He's been hindered, I think, by being moved around. To no fault of anybody's, just the way it goes.
"He's got a chance to be a good inside linebacker. We're going to give him a full opportunity and full chance to learn the position so we can evaluate him and see if that's a good spot for him.
"When he came out of college he was a versatile guy, he played a lot of different positions and maybe now it's time to lock him down into hopefully an inside linebacker spot. If it doesn't work out, maybe we move him back out, but I want to see him at inside linebacker for a while."
The 6-3, 240-pound Jones showed from the early days of last year's training camp that it was a mistake for all 32 teams who overlooked him in the draft.
"He's got good size," Fangio said. "He's got good athletic ability. He's a young, eager guy, and football's important to him. I think he's got a bright future if he can develop."
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