LAKE FOREST Trevon Wesco Jersey , Ill. (AP)From an offensive-minded head coach to a new set of receivers, the Chicago Bears have spent the offseason adding pieces to help Mitchell Trubisky develop into the franchise quarterback they believe he can become.It’s easy to envision them continuing along that path with the No. 8 pick in the draft on Thursday. defense is the way they go.”I think the needs of this team are pretty defined,” ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. said.General manager Ryan Pace said the Bears have identified eight players the Bears are comfortable taking with the eighth pick.Notre Dame guard Quenton Nelson and Georgia linebacker Roquan Smith would appear to be strong possibilities for the Bears, assuming they are still on the board.The 6-foot-5, 329-pound Nelson would fill a void the Bears created by letting four-time Pro Bowler Josh Sitton go.With his size and strength, Nelson would help protect Trubisky and create space for the running backs. It doesn’t hurt, either, that Bears line coach Harry Hiestand was his position coach in college.Smith would also be an intriguing possibility with his speed and quickness.”If you can get him at 8, great,” Kiper said. ”Nelson’s also one of the best three or four or five players in this draft. But he’s a guard. I value the linebacker over the guard.”Pace clearly values Trubisky.Pace staked his reputation to the quarterback by trading up a spot with San Francisco to draft him No. 2 overall last year and made it clear the No. 1 priority this offseason was to improve his supporting cast.The Bears hired an offensive-minded coach in Matt Nagy to replace the fired John Fox and revamped the receiving group, most notably signing free agent Allen Robinson.Whether they go offense or defense in the first round, the Bears need to hit on the pick. After all, Chicago has made the playoffs just one time since the 2006 team’s Super Bowl run and has four straight seasons with 10 or more losses.Here are some things to know heading into the draft:KEY ACQUISITIONSWhile the Robinson signing is the headline move of the offseason so far, he’s not the only new target for Trubisky.The Bears also signed the speedy Taylor Gabriel, and brought in Bennie Fowler after deciding not to match New Orleans’ offer sheet for Cameron Meredith. They added a versatile tight end, too – Trey Burton. He threw a memorable touchdown pass to quarterback Nick Foles in Philadelphia’s Super Bowl victory over New England.CATCHING ONThe Bears could still use help at wide receiver Shareef Miller Jersey , something they might try to address on the second or third day. Pace was part of a front office in New Orleans that found some good players in the later rounds and on the undrafted free agent market.The Saints got six 1,000-yard seasons in 10 years out of Marques Colston after drafting the Hofstra product in the seventh round in 2006. Lance Moore, undrafted out of Toledo, had 346 receptions for 4,281 yards and 38 touchdowns for New Orleans from 2006-13.”There’s a lot of things that you value with the receivers,” Pace said. ”They can be different animals small, big, good route runners, speed guys but I would say the trait that has to be there is good hands, natural hands.”PICK `EMAlong with the No. 8 pick, the Bears have one second-rounder and two in the fourth. They also have one each in the fifth, sixth and seventh. But they don’t have a third-round pick.SPOTTY MARKPace has an uneven record drafting in the first round.Oft-injured receiver Kevin White has been a bust since Pace took him with the No. 7 pick in 2015. Limited to five games, the West Virginia product has 21 catches for 193 yards.Linebacker Leonard Floyd and Trubisky have flashed some promise, but have room to improve.HITS, MISSES AND BARGAINSWhile White is a huge miss, Pace hit in a big way in the second and fifth rounds in 2016.He grabbed Cody Whitehair in the second round, landing a big contributor at both guard and center not to mention an emerging leader. In the fifth round Zach Brown Jersey , Pace took running back Jordan Howard out of Indiana. All he has done is run for 2,435 yards, though his struggles catching the ball could be an issue in Nagy’s system.Pace got another bargain running back last season when he drafted Tarik Cohen in the fourth round. He had 370 yards rushing and 353 receiving as a rookie.— JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Leonard Fournette slipped off his sweaty cleats, signed each one and then handed them to a young fan after practice.The youngster carefully walked away with Fournette’s gold-colored shoes, making sure not to touch the drying ink. After all, the memorabilia could appreciate in value if the Jacksonville Jaguars running back gets his NFL career turned around.Fournette spoke publicly for the first time in nearly six months Friday, finally addressing the worst season in his 24 years and everything that’s happened since. He was injured, suspended and on the bench in crunch time. He was fined, criticized and admittedly not in ideal shape late in the year.The Jaguars voided the remaining guarantees in his rookie contract following his one-game suspension for fighting, and personnel chief Tom Coughlin ripped him for being “disrespectful” and “selfish” during the season finale. Adding to the chaos, Fournette was arrested last month for driving with a suspended license.“It’s a new year,” Fournette said following practice. “We have a new team. We’re focused and we have new players. It’s a new year for us, so it’s a new everything. It’s a clean start for a lot of us guys. We’re not focused on the past. The past’s the past.“Some things I did, whether it was offseason and I admitted to, yeah I was wrong. We moved on. We’re in a good place right now.”The Jaguars were in a tough spot without Fournette last season, unable to run the ball with any consistency after building the offense around the former LSU star and fourth overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft.He finished with 439 yards rushing and five touchdowns in eight games after running for 1 Devin Bush Jersey ,040 yards and nine scores as a rookie. He’s missed 11 games in two seasons, including two because of suspensions.“Everybody has a bad year, so I don’t feel like I’ve got to prove myself to no one,” Fournette said.The team probably feels otherwise.Jacksonville completely revamped its running backs room around Fournette, firing position coach Tyrone Wheatley and parting ways with backups T.J. Yeldon, Carlos Hyde and Corey Grant.Coach Doug Marrone hired 64-year-old Terry Robiskie, who, like Fournette, was born and raised in New Orleans and attended LSU, as running backs coach. They also added veteran Alfred Blue (another LSU alum) to be Fournette’s backup.And even though they signed quarterback and former Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles to upgrade one of the NFL’s most anemic offenses, Fournette is still expected to be the centerpiece under new coordinator John DeFilippo.“He’s going to be a major reason for where our offense goes,” DeFilippo said. “I’m not going to sugarcoat that. Leonard Fournette needs to be a big part of this offense. The harder he works, which he is right now, I think that’s not only going to be good for our offense, but good for our team.”Fournette said he weighs 226 pounds, down 14 pounds from the end of last season.He spent part of this offseason training in Dallas and then went to Wyoming to work with his college strength and conditioning coach in hopes of getting back to his “foundation.”“I kind of put a lot on myself this offseason, like getting my body right Diontae Johnson Jersey ,” Fournette said. “Just mentally coming back ready to play football. No distractions. Leaving the outside stuff where it’s at. I think that’s one of the biggest things that us players. … We face a lot of problems, you know what I mean?“We have a lot of issues, and if we’re not right with ourselves and then we come out on this field, we’re not going to be right in the game.”Getting Fournette back on track is one of Jacksonville’s top priorities. Coaches believe he’s got the talent to be one of the best backs in the league — a guy whose worn cleats would be a collector’s item — but they have to keep him healthy, in shape, motivated and focused.“Those young guys at that age, I always think they need a little more push, a little bit more guidance, a little bit more leadership,” Robiskie said. “Leonard is one of those guys.He’s got the ambition. He’s got the heart.“I think he wants to win. I don’t think he wants to win a game. I think he wants to be a part of something special. I think he wants to win a Super Bowl, and I think the year before last, that little taste that he had, I think that kind of helped push it a little bit more.”