By John Sarianides

The Chicago Bears moved up one spot in April’s draft to take North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. The move signaled that the Bears are ready to take the next step in their rebuild.

The Bears also signed veteran back up Mike Glennon to a three year, $45 million dollar deal to hold the fort down while Trubisky develops. Glennon has struggled thus far in camp and has been outplayed by Trubisky. The pressure is already on John Fox to start Trubisky. 

Whoever the quarterback ends up being, they will have the luxury of handing the ball off to running back Jordan Howard. Howard, finished second in the NFL in rushing last season with 1,313 yards. Howard scored 6 touchdowns. 

Howard is good but he is a bi-product of an improved offensive line led by Kyle Long and Cody Whitehair. If the offensive line can continue to improve, that will help a Bears passing game that has been stagnant in recent years. 

General Manager Ryan Pace made it a point this off-season to improve the Bears skill level. The additions of Kendall Wright, Markus Wheaton, Victor Cruz tight end Dion Sims should help improve a passing game that has consistently been bottom third in the league in recent years.

Defensively, the Bears will once again employ a 3-4 defense. Chicago has enough edge rushers that they should be effective running this scheme. It is a revamped secondary that features cornerbacks Prince Anukamara, Marcus Cooper and Quinton Demps that must show improvement.

The Bears will be better defensively but will the defense improve enough to help spearhead the turnaround. 

Here three keys for the 2017 Bears.

1. Glennon or Trubisky? The Bears have to legitimately figure out who their starting quarterback will be. Do they go with Mike Glennon who has struggled thus far or do they turn the reigns over to Mitchell Trubisky and let him learn on the job?

I think Glennon will be the starter but he will need to play well to keep the job. 

2. Passing Game Must Produce: Regardless of who the quarterback is, the Bears need to get more out of their passing game. Otherwise, Jordan Howard will be seeing a lot of eight man fronts.

The Bears need to prove that they can throw the football down the field and be more balanced. If they cannot, it will be a struggle to score points again this season.  

3. The D Must Improve: The Bears need to get back to their roots and win with defense. All great Bears teams of the past have had stout defenses that were complemented by opportunistic offenses. 

The Bears must be better defensively in 2017. If the defense improves, the whole team will be better. 

In the End: The Bears will be better this season but will it be enough to help save John Fox’s job. I highly doubt it. Chicago would need to be above .500 or make the playoffs in order for that to happen.