Bear Digest

FanNation Mock Draft Left Bears with Caleb Williams and an Edge

Analysis: Why BearDigest selected Jared Verse No. 9 in Round 1 of the 2024 FanNation mock draft.

Gene Chamberlain

Jared Verse was the best player available at a need position for the Bears in the FanNation mock draft at No. 9.
Jared Verse was the best player available at a need position for the Bears in the FanNation mock draft at No. 9. / Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
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The annual FanNation mock draft left the Bears facing the same scenario they could face in the real draft at No. 9 overall.

With a top receiver gone, the only alternative in the non-trading environment of this mock draft was the best available edge rusher, and that's a coin toss in itself.

At least they got Caleb Williams. Nothing can prevent this.

BearDigest selected Caleb Williams first, to start the FanNation draft and make the offense whole, and then picked Jared Verse at No. 9 from Florida State to do the same for the defense.

WHO WENT WHERE IN THE FANNATION MOCK DRAFT

Or at least it left the defense as close to whole as possible considering there is still no proven 3-technique at defensive tackle in a scheme revolving around the 3-technique.

As the most accomplished quarterback the Bears have ever drafted in the NFL's modern era, Williams will arrive with more dependable targets than they've had since the Marc Trestman coaching era, but one more would have been nice in this draft.

In this mock draft the Giants No. 6 took the player most people see falling to the Bears at No. 9 when New York's real focus should be on finding a sufficient quarterback. They took Rome Odunze. The Bears would be interested in Odunze because of his speed, contested-catch ability and the fact he only dropped three passes last year.

With all three top receivers gone—Malik Nabers to the Chargers and Marvin Harrison Jr. to the Cardinals—and tackle Joe Alt selected by Tennessee, the next best opportunity after Oduze for the Bears was the top edge rusher, Dallas Turner. The Atlanta Falcons need an edge badly, and so he was gone as well.

This would mean trading back in real life and then selecting either Jared Verse or Laiatu Latu, depending on how far back the Bears trade. With no trade, it's basically flip a coin between the two.

The choice was ultimately made based on a higher ceiling for Verse.

Both Latu and Verse have the ability to instantly step on the field and help take pressure off Montez Sweat in the pass rush. Latu probably is more equipped to do it immediately than Verse but not by much. His hand usage and assortment of rush techniques will work better initially, making him seem like a veteran edge.

However, he has the red flag risk with a neck in jury in the past and the Bears have had to go through similar issues with Teven Jenkins and his back. They wouldn't want to experience this again.

Also, Latu isn't as physically capable of improving to the same extent over time. Verse is much stronger with 31 reps in the bench. He holds down the edge while also rushing the passer. He ran a 4.58 40 to Latu's 4.64 in the 40 and had a faster 10-yard split (1.6 to 1.62).

While Latu is a bit taller and they're close to the same weight, the biggest physical difference beside strength is verticality.

Not only are Verse's powerful arms longer than Latu's 32 5/8-inch arms, but Latu lacks the leg strength Verse has.

Latu had a 32-inch vertical leap and a 9-foot-8 broad jump at the combine while Verse was top 8% all time at combines for his position with a 10-foot-7 broad jump and top 29% with a 35-inch vertical leap.

With a bigger wingspan and longer arms, Verse is more likely to be the more ideal edge for this scheme over time than Latu because he can swat down throws and stuff runs or screen passes better.

WHAT AN AFC COORDINATOR TOLD ALBERT BREER ABOUT CALEB WILLIAMS

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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.