Bears Pick Shea McClellin in First Round of NFL Draft

In a city that prides itself on its Irish heritage, it’s almost fitting that the Bears picked up a huge Irishman to help them take down what hurts them the most – opposing quarterbacks.  The Bears selected Shea McClellin, a defensive end from Boise State as their 19th pick in the first round of the 2012 Draft last night.

What You Need to Know: 

• Shea (short for Sheamus) is one huge dude.  At 6-3 and 260 lbs this Idaho native is just what the Bears need to compliment their defense and improve the pass rush.  McClellin is one of the fastest defensive ends in college football with 7 sacks in his 2011 season at Boise State.
• Pass rush is football lingo for the pressure that the defense puts on the opponent’s quarterback.  When a quarterback receives the snap he has a few critical seconds in the pocket to get rid of the ball – either to throw it, hand it off, or run with it.  A good defensive end puts pressure on the quarterback by chasing him down and forces him to unload the ball sooner that he would like.  This is called the pass rush.
• The Bears had their eye on McClellin for months and believe he’ll be a great compliment to the other huge guy on the other end of the defensive line - Julius Peppers.
  

  Julius Peppers

  Peppers is one of the best players on the team and is responsible for the majority of the sacks and scaring the bejesus out of most QBs.  McClellin will help take some of the pressure off of Peppers.

• The job isn’t McClellin’s quite yet – he’ll need to prove first that he is a better fit than Bears veteran defensive end, Israel Idonije (I-DON-UH-JE). 
  

  Israel Idonije

Your Take Away Piece: “I’m not surprised the Bears beefed up the defense first.  With the Brandon Marshall and Michael Bush acquisitions in the off-season, the Bears already took a huge step prior to the Draft filling some of the offensive holes.”  (Marshall is the Bears new wide receiver and Bush is the new running back).

What’s Next:  More Draft!  Rounds 2-3 are tonight on ESPN and the rounds 4-7 are on Saturday all day.  Expect the Bears to sign another wide receiver and stock up on other offensive positions, but their key asset – and the name to know – coming out of this draft is McClellin.