Bear Digest

Chicago Bears Mock Draft 6.0 for BearDigest

The final Bears seven-round mock draft for 2024 and it includes a trade in Round 1 as they add picks and value at need positions.

Gene Chamberlain

Xavier Worthy tears out on an end around. The fastest man in the combine, he ran 4.21 seconds for the 40.
Xavier Worthy tears out on an end around. The fastest man in the combine, he ran 4.21 seconds for the 40. / Aaron E. Martinez/American-Statesman /
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Mock draft fun doesn't last forever.

It's time to get serious about where and who the Bears will pick, with the draft only four days away.

BearDigest mock draft 6.0 aims to produce a realistic scenario for the Bears through seven rounds, whether they are trading back or staying put to select.

The final projection needs to be the most serious one.

There will no doubt be lessons to learn along the way about what might happen to the Bears if they turn a certain direction within the process.

After Caleb Williams, it could be a very short three days of work for GM Ryan Poles, or it could be the usual full process if he starts trading back to acquire picks.

The Bears are on the clock in Mock Draft 6.0, the season's final Bears dry run.

Round 1, No. 1

QB Caleb Williams, USC

Much discussion centered in the last two days about when Poles really knew he was going to draft Williams and trade Justin Fields. Some have suggested as long ago as the game when fans were chanting his name, the Dec. 31 win over Atlanta. Consider this: The reason he traded down in 2023 from No. 1 was he knew he had a good shot at either getting the first pick in 2024 so he could pick Caleb Williams, or he'd have a couple of first-round picks he could offer in exchange for the first pick so he could pick Williams. The Bears have been watching Williams for a long time and you'd need to do an awful lot of talking to convince me Poles didn't plan to do this all along if Fields failed to make major in-roads during the 2023 season.

Round 1, No. 24

C Jackson Powers-Johnson

The Bears are hoping for more picks in this draft and Jerry Jones comes to the rescue. I'm not sure he would do this in real life because the Cowboys also need a center, but here they gave the Bears the 24th pick, and Poles moves back 15 spots. It's a long fall back but in exchange they get a second-rounder, a third-round pick and a sixth-round pick. Elevator down! The Bears most often try something around end or outside or they throw on third- and fourth-and-short. This is because they've had a weak offensive line, especially in the middle. Lucas Patrick and Cody Whitehair weren't overpowering many people from the middle of the line.

The Bears need a young, powerful center. They paid Coleman Shelton only $3 million and for just one year to be center. Ryan Bates is a guard who can play center if needed but they Bears need a long-term answer. He's better than any other offensive lineman and a more dependable edge than they could acquire in the draft at this point. At 6-foot-3, 320, he has power and youthful energy on his side.

Besides all that, he has a hamburger named after him. You've got to like that in an offensive lineman.

Round 2, No. 56

WR Xavier Worthy

OK, he doesn't have the greatest hands. And he can run better routes. However, if you are going to have a third receiver you might as well have the fastest one who ever ran a 40-yard dash at the combine. And Worthy does have value as a receiver, unlike former combine fastest John Ross. After all, Worthy caught 197 passes in three years for 2,755 yards and 26 TDs. Consider the field stretched when Worthy gets on it, and imagine how much fun it will be for Williams to throw to DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and his tight ends knowing there is more open space because people are running downfield with the speed guy. Oh, and guess what? He returns punts. Finally, a real punt returner who averaged 14.1 yards a return. They'll be fortunate to find Worthy here in a real draft if they somehow had a second-round pick at No. 56.

Round 3, No. 75

RB Jaylen Wright, Tennessee

Straight out of left field. They have three or four running backs already? Now they have one real speed running back who is a receiving threat for Williams. This would be their answer to Jahmyr Gibbs. A 5-11, 210-pound back who ran for 2,297 yards on only 368 college carries. There is plenty of tread left on his tires. He ran a 4.38-second 40-yard dash at the combine. They didn't want a running back but the extra pick they got from Dallas in the trade made this possible. Imagine Worthy running deep, Wright open flaring out of the backfield and all of those receivers Williams can throw to now. Khalil Herbert is in the last year of his contract. They could trade him.

Round 3, No. 87

DE Bralen Trice, Washington

Here's your extra edge. Sure, the first-rounders would have been better, but now they're much more explosive and the edge they draft is only going to be in a rotation anyway. Trice made 18 sacks and 28 tackles for loss over the last three seasons and at 6-foot-3 1/2, 245, he'll need to add some weight. He has 4.72-second speed and does have a good pressure rate. He just needs to finish the job better. With Montez Sweat rushing off the other side, it became easier for him to finish.

Round 4, No. 122

S Sione Vaki, Utah

They have brought in veteran safeties but they're a rather flawed group. It's better to have a long-term answer and they've found one here who went to Jaylon Johnson's school so there is some familiarity. At 5-11, 210, he didn't run the fastest 40 time at 4.6 but his 39 1/2-inch vertical leap is top 11% for safeties at combines. He made an interception, five pass breakups and 12 tackles for loss over the past two years. Saying he's versatile doesn't cover it. They actually had him playing on offense besides being a safety and extra DB type.

Round 6, No. 216

DT Jordan Jefferson, LSU

Here's a 3-technique who isn't going to come in and ruffle feathers of the two who are there already, until he beats them out for making bigger plays in the backfield. He made plays in backfields for four years for Virginia Tech, with 14 tackles for loss and 3 1/2 sacks, then came to LSU and had seven TFLs and 2 1/2 sacks last year. He also has a knack for getting his hand on the ball while getting into the gap as he had eight passes deflected.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.