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Another One Bites the Dust on Jerry's Draft Resume

Bears General manager Jerry Angelo's less-than-stellar draft resume (That sure is a diplomatic way of describing it, right?) took another hit Thursday. The Bears have placed running back Harvey Unga on the reserve/left squad list, according to Brad Biggs, our show's Bears insider.

That opened a roster spot for someone coming out of the preseason finale Thursday, which is good for a player trying to make the team, but bad for the GM.

While Unga's unexplained departure is not Dan Bazuin bad--the defensive end the Bears tabbed in the second round of the 2007 draft only to be waived a year later after a second knee surgery--Unga did cost the Bears another valuable draft pick.

Unga was with the team last season when he was on injured reserve with a pulled hamstring,

The Bears took Unga in the supplemental draft last summer by using its seventh-round pick in 2011. Angelo likes to tout the Bears emphasis on ``character'' when drafting players.

Unga had been excused for personal reasons since before the second preseason game against the New York Giants. He was initially excused from nearly a week of training camp to be with his wife for the birth of the couple's second child.

Unga returned to training camp for less than a week, but long enough to play in the fourth quarter of the preseason opener vs. the Buffalo Bills. Shortly after that, Unga was gone again, this time for personal reasons.

Players and coaches have suggested that Unga left the team for good.

Why? Only a few know.

Whatever the reason, it is just another swing and a miss for Angelo. Unga wasn't a marquee name but a name on the ever-growing list of Bears draft busts under Angelo.

We'll talk plenty of Bears Friday between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. Hope you will join Mully and me then.

As always, thanks for listening.

 

--Hanley

 

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