Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune answers your questions:
Do the Bears plan to move Shemar Turner to the edge? Edge is a priority need despite everyone’s obsession with running backs. — @barbersquires
There may be a chance that Turner lines up at defensive end in occasional (see: rare) pass-rushing situations. I could see that happening once in a while. But Turner — whom the team lists at 6-3, 290 pounds — is a defensive tackle. If things go well, he will develop nicely behind Grady Jarrett and become a stalwart three-technique. Jarrett signed a three-year contract, but you’re essentially looking at a two-year, $30 million deal with a team option for 2027 for a 32-year-old entering his 11th season.
The Bears need to coach up Turner at tackle and let him develop there. Defensive end could be a position they look to supplement later this year — before training camp or potentially after roster cuts. There aren’t a lot of great options right now in terms of unemployed pass rushers.
I couldn’t agree more with this.
The Bears that went to the Super Bowl at the end of the 2006 season were never the same once Tommy Harris was lost to injury late in the year. Having one or more good three-technique tackles is critical to the performance of the kind of one-gap, penetrating defensive line that defensive coordinator Dennis Allen will usually run.
The Bears need pass rush. They don’t necessarily need it to come from defensive end. You can apply a lot of pressure on the quarterback from a three-technique, where the player has the shortest route to the quarterback.
I think that the Bears should see what Turner can do, and specifically how much pressure he can generate, at defensive tackle before they start moving him around.