Bear Digest

Dead-on accurate mock drafter foresees controversial Bears pick

The second-most accurate mock drafter over the last five years has a mock draft out calling for the Bears to select one of the most polarizing players at No. 10.

Gene Chamberlain

Caleb Williams poses with commissioner Roger Goodell at last year's draft. One accurate mock draft sees controversy ahead for the Bears in this year's draft.
Caleb Williams poses with commissioner Roger Goodell at last year's draft. One accurate mock draft sees controversy ahead for the Bears in this year's draft. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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There are so many mock drafts put out every day that it can be difficult to know which might carry more significance.

The Huddle Report has recorded mock draft information over 25 years and posts leader boards every year to determine and make known who makes the most accurate ones.

Over the past five years, Jason Boris of Times News is the "king of the hill." Boris doesn't post a mock draft early and hasn't yet for this year. So you'd have a hard time finding out his expert opinion regarding the Bears at pick No. 10. 

Right behind Boris in accuracy over the last five years is Brendan Donahue of Sharp Football Analysis, and his mocks have been out. It's Donahue's latest mock draft which can give Bears fans cause for concern. It all depends on your viewpoint.

Donauhue's mock draft 3.0 has the Bears selecting defensive end Shemar Stewart from Texas A&M.

Stewart is the combine freak who tested out athletically so well you'd have thought he was training for the Olympic decathlon and not the NFL draft.

Stewart recorded the third-best edge player relative athletic score (RAS) in the history of the combine. That's 1,802 edges. It was No. 1 from all edges from 1987-2025.

As Homer Simpson might say, "Woo Hoo."

It's still football and producing on the field counts for something. They're not going to line up and hold a 40-yard race and say the winner on Sunday is the fastest team. It won't be a leaping contest or jump frog or a video game. It's football with contact at higher speed and making athletic plays when they're needed.

Stewart's 4 1/2 sacks and 12 tackles for loss in three full seasons and 37 games for the Aggies, is explained off a lot of times as a team thing or scheme thing. He was making it possible for other to make plays.

He only had 65 combined tackles, 30 solo tackles.

To be honest, Stewart wasn't beating his chest while claiming pass rush superiority at the combine. Any analysis of himself came with indication he needs to improve.

"I wasn't a sack-chasing warrior," he said at the combine. "I just wanted to become the best player for my team. And sometimes the stats don't show that. Definitely trying to get more comfortable and get after the quarterback, trying to run through the tackle instead of maybe trying to reach out, lunging for a tackle."

Stewart tries to model his game after Bears-Panthers-Packers Hall-of-Fame edge Julius Peppers.

"I feel like my body and our athletic ability are pretty similar," he said. "I'm not going to say I'm up there with him, because he's definitely a hall of famer. But it's pretty similar in my eyes."

He started paying attention to Peppers in high school.

"I was scrolling through YouTube one day watching some of the NFL guys, and I seen him, and went, 'Man, he kind of looks like me,' " Stewart said. "Same weight and everything. He's explosive, strong and powerful. He just made plays. I think he got the most interceptions I've ever seen from a D-lineman."

To be fair, he was playing on the line with edge Nic Scourton, another potential Day 1 or 2 draft pick, and Scourton finished some sacks Stewart might have otherwise made.

At 6-foot-5, 267 for the combine after he was over 280 for the regular season, Stewart was fourth in the 40-yard dash (4.59 seconds), first in the broad jump (10-foot-11), and second in vertical jump (40 inches) among defensive edge players at the combine.

If the Bears don't want him, some other team might.

On Wednesday he was in Green Bay for a 30 visit.

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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.