NFL draft preview: Vea could help Bears defensive line
Seventh in a series
Edge rushers such as North Carolina State's Bradley Chubb and Texas-San Antonio's Marcus Davenport generate more excitement in the draft process because of their double-digit sack potential.
The stout athletes on the D-line, however, are just as important - and some of them can rush the passer, too.
How valuable are these guys? Expect four to come off the board in the first round of the NFL draft, and four more in Round 2.
Akiem Hicks has elevated his game since joining the Bears, producing the best two seasons of his six in the league. He's a stout run stuffer and has also been the Bears' most consistent pass rusher with 15.5 sacks in two years.
Eddie Goldman has the strength and size to occupy blockers and plug the inside run lanes, and he has enough athleticism and quickness to be disruptive behind the line of scrimmage.
Aside from those two studs, the Bears have question marks and little depth. The team expects 2016 third-round pick Jonathan Bullard to step up after he showed flashes in his first two years but disappeared for long stretches.
John Jenkins barely got on the field last season, but the massive, 6-foot-3, 343-pound veteran was re-signed for depth inside. Roy Robertson-Harris remains a project with potential, but he showed promise late last year with two sacks in the final four games.
Here's a glance at what the Bears may be thinking:
Day 1: Washington's Vita Vea, the consensus No. 1 defensive lineman in the draft, excluding edge rushers, would be a slight reach for the Bears at No. 8, according to most draft analysts. But that doesn't mean the massive run stuffer and Pac-12 defensive player of the year would be a bad pick.
The 6-4, 347-pound Vita Vea of Washington has the girth to play on the nose in the Bears' 3-4 base, but he's more than athletic and active enough to play end. At either spot, he would be a force in eliminating opponents' run games. Other than a bull rush, Vea doesn't have much in the way of pass-rush moves, but the consensus is he has plenty of upside.
Day 2: Michigan's Maurice Hurst, Florida's Taven Bryan and Alabama's Da'Ron Payne are expected to be gone by the time the Bears are on the clock at No. 39. But Stanford's Harrison Phillips could be a fit in the Bears' scheme as a 5-technique, though he played the nose for the Cardinal. The 6-foot-4, 307-pound Phillips is not considered a great pass-rush threat, but he has 14 sacks over the past two seasons and 26.5 tackles for loss, including 17 last season. Phillips also led the Cardinal in tackles last season with 103, rare production for a lineman. He repped 225 pounds a combine-best 42 times on the bench.
Day 3: Da'Shawn Hand's Alabama teammate, Payne, has gotten much more attention. If Hand slips into the third day, he could be a steal. Hand has scheme diversity - he would be a 5-technique in the Bears' base - and he ran a sizzling 4.83 40 at the combine, an excellent time for a 6-foot-4, 297-pounder. He was inconsistent at Alabama but flashed the potential to be great.
If the Bears are looking for a sleeper prospect, it's easy to spot Oklahoma's third-year sophomore Du'Vonta Lumpkin, since he's 6-4 and 335 pounds. He was suspended for six games in 2016 and missed two games last year because of academic problems. Lumpkin has only started a handful of games, and he's strictly a two-down player, but he can be difficult to move off a spot.
He easily won the bench-press competition at Oklahoma's pro day with 31 reps, and his 5.08 40-time was more than acceptable for such a naturally huge man. He's not ready for prime time right now, but he could be with a year or two of work.
Bears depth chart:
LE: Akiem Hicks; NT: Eddie Goldman and John Jenkins; RE: Jonathan Bullard and Roy Robertson-Harris
Need: Moderate-to-urgent
Bears picks: Round 1 (eighth overall); Round 2 (39th); Round 4 (105th) and (115th); Round 5 (145th); Round 6 (181st); Round 7 (224th)
2018 salary-cap situation: The Bears rank 26th in D-line spending for 2018 at $18.365 million, according to spotrac.com. Hicks is responsible for more than half of the total at $9.6 million, while Eddie Goldman is a bargain at $1.809 million and could be signed to an extension later in the offseason.
• Twitter @BobLeGere