ESPN NFL

If the Chicago Bears are to successfully compensate for the absence of defensive tackle Tank Johnson, who will miss at least the first six games of the 2007 season after being suspended by commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday, it's obvious that youth must be served.

And it is just as apparent that the team's young defensive tackles must be serviceable as well.

The loss of Johnson means that the Bears will open defense of their NFC championship minus their top three tackles from Super Bowl XLI only four months ago. The starter next to Johnson in that game was Ian Scott, and he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in April as an unrestricted free agent. The club's No. 3 tackle in the title game, Alfonso Boone, departed as an unrestricted free agent, too, joining the Kansas City Chiefs.

Chicago signed one unrestricted free agent tackle, Anthony Adams of San Francisco, a four-year veteran and former second-round draft choice. The Bears did not use any of their nine picks in this year's draft for reinforcements at the position. Nor did Chicago officials try very hard to retain Scott or Boone.

Instead, they will bank on younger players to fill the breach.

The key for the Bears' interior line is the return to health of Pro Bowl tackle Tommie Harris, one of the NFL's emerging, young stars at the position before he sustained a season-ending hamstring injury that sidelined him for the final four regular-season games in 2006 and the playoffs.

Israel Idonije

Defensive Tackle Chicago Bears Profile

2006 SEASON STATISTICS Tot Solo Ast FF Sack Int 19 13 6 0 0 0

Still rehabilitating from surgery to repair his left hamstring, Harris, who had five sacks in his dozen appearances last season, is making steady progress and his recovery is on pace. But even if Harris returns at full strength and to his prior form, Chicago will feature a drastically revamped tackle corps for 2007. And part of replacing Tank means relying on relative NFL toddlers such as Dusty Dvoracek, Antonio Garay and Israel Idonije.

Long on potential, but woefully shy of production and playing time, the trio has combined for just two regular-season starts. Both of those belong to Idonije, who usually deploys as an end, but who might be counted on this season to slide inside and take some snaps at tackle.

The Bears like Idonije, 26, enough to have matched a restricted free agent offer sheet to which the Buffalo Bills signed him last year. Still, the four-year veteran, who played college football in Canada, has appeared in just 39 games and registered 53 tackles and two sacks.

Like Idonije, three-year veteran Antonio Garay, who originally entered the NFL in 2003, has been around for a while and is possessed of undeniable yet unrefined physical skills. He is, again like Idonije, a defender who can align at end or tackle, but the Bears' coaches have recently worked him more at the latter spot. The former Boston College standout has played in only eight games and recorded seven tackles.

Probably the most intriguing member of the young trio is Dvoracek, a third-round pick from Oklahoma in 2006, but a player who spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve with a foot injury. Dvoracek's toughness and skills-set means that he probably projects best to nose tackle, which would make him a potential replacement during Johnson's forced hiatus. But, like the other young tackles on the roster, he simply hasn't played much football recently.

In 2004, Dvoracek was suspended from the Sooners' squad after appearing in the first two games of the season. To his credit, he stayed in school, worked hard to regain a spot on the roster, and played in 12 contests as a redshirt senior in 2005. But the foot injury last year means Dvoracek has played in only 14 games, and started 12, the past three seasons.

That could cast the 26-year-old Adams, whose résumé from San Francisco included 34 starts, into a critical role. The former Penn State star played well for the 49ers, particularly early in his stint in the Bay Area, and produced 134 tackles and six sacks in four seasons. But when San Francisco moved to a 3-4 front under head coach Mike Nolan, the transition was not a very good fit for the undersized Adams (6-feet-0, 299 pounds), and his playing time was reduced.

His quickness and penetrating style might be better suited to the Tampa-2 defense favored by Bears' coach Lovie Smith.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.