Bear Digest

Chicago Bears On SI 2025 In-Season Mock Draft 3.0

A final in-season simulated draft for the Chicago Bears with the emphasis still on bulking up their offensive line to protect Caleb Williams.

Gene Chamberlain

Ohio State's Josh Simmons blocks former Missouri defensive lineman Darius Robinson. Simmons is among the draft's top tackles.
Ohio State's Josh Simmons blocks former Missouri defensive lineman Darius Robinson. Simmons is among the draft's top tackles. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
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The third and final in-season Bears mock draft has advanced far enough in talent pool assessment for trading and conducting it now affords an opportunity.

The Bears go into Sunday's games in the seventh spot for this draft and odds are good they'll never get this high. Most likely they'll not move up beyond eighth and would probably e stuck in ninth based on the teams ahead of them and the tiebreakers, which they lose to almost every team.

That tiebreaker is winning percentage of opponents and the ers face one of the league's toughest schedules, so their bad record says they need help less than other teams with the same record.

By the end of the Week 16 games they could be back to ninth.


They've only moved up to seventh at this point because they already played this week, but this mock draft wil serve to show what they could get if they were picking as early as seventh.

It's not a lot different but their trade opportunities are enhanced and we'll take advantage of this in Chicago Bears On SI In-Season  Mock Draft 3.0.

The next mock draft will come postseason and for the seventh straight year they will already know their draft position with certainty when the regular season ends.

The Bears are on the clock.

Round 1, No. 14

T Josh Simmons, Ohio State

How did the Bears get to here? They had the seventh pick. The chance to move back for an extra early pick was too enticing. Making this trade is also educational because you'll see the difference between where they pick at No. 7 and No. 14, in terms of the quality of player they'll give up by moving back. The Bears' main need is the offensive line, particularly guard but most tackles can become guards in the NFL if necessary. Cincinnati offered its second-round pick and its 14th overall pick for the seventh pick. By moving back seven picks, the Bears miss out on three tackles: Will Campbell from LSU, Aireontae Ersery from Minnesota and Kelvin Banks Jr. from Texas. Pro Football Focus sees no guards worth taking until late in Round 2 so the pick is another highly rated tackle from Ohio State, Josh Simmons.

The 6-foot-5 310-pound blocker is judged excellent in pass blocking. He could take the left tackle spot or even move to guard. Sure, the Bears drafted Kiran Amegadjie last year but they've only seen a player who looks like a former Yale player at this point and there's no reason to expect he could take away Braxton Jones' job. Another first-round tackle can only improve the talent pool for protecting Caleb Williams.

Round 2, No. 39

DT Walter Nolen, Mississippi

Both the second pick and third pick in this mock were selected in an earlier mock draft and it's because they are the best players available at the spot when the Bears pick. The selection gets an "A" grade from PFF. Nolen is a 3-technique and the Bears have shown they aren't overly impressed with what Zacch Pickens has displayed so far by making him a game day inactive on Thursday night behind a few veteran journeymen. Getting another 3-technique is necessary to stop the run. Nolen had 14 sacks the last two seasons and is a force on the inside, playing in one of the toughest conferences.

Round 3, No. 40

DE Ashton Gillotte, Louisville

There is no guard available here and really, no tackle who could convert to guard at this point. What they'll find is a handful of potential edge rushers and Poles has ignored this spot in the draft. Time to address it. Sure, they drafted Austin Booker. But that was in Round 5 last year. They drafted Dominique Robinson in Round 5. When you wait that late for an edge rusher, you're probably getting a Round 5 edge rusher and that's barely above journeyman type you could sign for minimum veteran's wage like they did with some of their defensive linemen the last few years. Gillotte is a force. He'd be an instant third edge rusher in the rotation in Year 1, behind Montez Sweat and DeMarcus Walker, and could be ready for starting by Year 2 when Walker's contract has expired. Gillotte has 26 1/2 sacks. He's a good size for an end in the Bears' 4-3 at 6-3, 275, and PFF had him at an outstanding 156 pressures for four seasons.

Round 2, No. 46

G Tyler Booker, Alabama

Another attempt was made to move back because there are no guards worth taking here with the pick the Bears acquired from Cincinnati in the Round 1 trade back. Instead, it's time to reach a bit. They had Alabama guard Tyler Booker graded as an end of Round 2 player or beginning of Round 3. At 6-5, 325, Booker has had the pedigree of playing in an elite program for 25 games. He allowed no sacks this season, two in the 2023 season, and just four hits and 18 total hurries. Booker can move for a 325-pound guard and is versatile enough to help in whatever style blocking scheme the new Bears coach relies upon.

That's four picks in the first 46 and the Bears have addressed their top needs. There is one need yet to be addressed that the mock draft simulators on the internet don't include and it's a huge hole they don't see because they don't look hard enough at each team. The Bears will have the early Round 3 pick to address it.

Round 3, No. 71

S Nick Emmanwori, South Carolina

Beyond defensive line help, the Bears have a real need on defense for a safety. Kevin Byard is at an age where few safeties seem to flourish. Safety Jaquan Brisker may or may not have a future in the NFL. It's a tough thing to say but a third concussion in three seasons, one which knocked him out of every game after Oct. 6, is going to mean they need to cover this position with a high quality draft pick from at least Day 2.

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The grades mock draft simulators give out for Bears safeties being taken early are all bad but that's because they don't understand the need for this position by the team. Emmanwori is a 6-3 safety who has a lot of experience in the box and also paying deep. 375 of his college snaps came deep and 673 of them came in the box. The Bears would have no problem in this scheme playing him in Brisker's role. It's where he's at his best. If they wind up going back to a 3-4, he is an ideal box safety type for a scheme using single high. Key will be what his speed is but he's graded as a pick for this part of the draft.

Round 4, No. 121

G Connor Colby, Iowa

Again, the Bears see an opportunity for a higher quality player if they give up what basically are less meaningful picks. A trade with Texas requires they give up their 143rd pick but also their sixth-rounder (199) and seventh-rounder (228) to go up 22 spots into Round 4. No problem. The Bears have not found much real help in Round 6 in recent drafts and none in Round 7. It's better to get the higher quality player in Round 4.  An ideal pick would be a running back here but the impact backs have been taken already so the Iowa guard gives them more insurance a this position. Colby might have been at his best in 2022 when he allowed pressures on only .6% of snaps at left guard.

He played in 51 college games and PFF loves his quickness both in run blocking and for pass blocking. His versatility at 6-6, 310 will give him a chance to be a contributor as a swing player right away if he isn't a starter. He played right tackle and both guard spots.

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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.