The Chicago Bears made a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the No. 9 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. With that pick, they took University of Georgia outside linebacker Leonard Floyd.
#Bears pick Georgia OLB Leonard Floyd in the 1st round of the #NFLDraft.
Welcome to the #Bears family! #BearsDraft pic.twitter.com/u0ndYtj46W
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) April 29, 2016
To get the No. 9 pick, their first rounder (No. 11 overall) and fourth rounder (No. 106 overall) to Tampa Bay.
Floyd’s No. 1 purpose will certainly be to get at the opposing quarterbacks. He’ll probably be used mostly in pure passing downs, similar to what the San Francisco 49ers did with Aldon Smith in his rookie year of 2011. Like Smith, Floyd’s defensive coordinator is Vic Fangio.
Floyd recorded 17 sacks in three years at Georgia, adding 26.5 tackles for a loss. In 2015, he had 4.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for a loss, with 72 total tackles.
Floyd will certainly be an important part of the Chicago pass rush, which was mediocre during the 2015 season. As a team, the Bears recorded only 35 sacks during the 2015 season, good enough for a tie for 22nd in the league.