Bear Digest

Consider Justin Fields Helped

Seven-round Bears mock draft 5.0 by BearDigest brings plenty of offensive help for Justin Fields while sacrificing on the defensive side.

Gene Chamberlain

In this story:

The trend among all mock drafts conducted so far for the Bears by BearDigest has been for valued defensive help to go quickly earlier than the Bears would like, if they devote their earliest pick to a wide receiver.

There is an insufficient supply of interior defensive linemen. While cornerbacks are in better supply, the quality drops off too much after Round 2 to make it an option over other need positions.

The Bears are going to need a wide receiver, though. They also are going to need extra picks in this draft.

Mock draft 5.0 for BearDigest was conducted with the thought of first, giving Justin Fields a chance. It seems to be the matter of concern everywhere.

This will mean sacrificing some positions or at least higher quality.

The Bears need extra picks and Ryan Poles' old team, the Kansas City Chiefs, granted him a break with a trade that really set up this draft because it plugged the hole between the third-round pick at No. 71 and a fifth-round pick at No. 148 while also bringing them two extra picks in the draft.

The Chiefs took the 48th pick given for Khalil Mack and the Bears got back a pick still in Round 2 at No. 62, while also taking the 94th pick at the end of Round 3 and the 135th pick at the end of Round 4.

Trading with Kansas City means taking picks at the end of rounds, but Poles should be willing to do this in his first draft just to get more selections because six picks for a team as short on talent as the Bears are is not enough.

Round 2, pick No. 39

WR George Pickens, Georgia

If Pickens is still there, the Bears must take him. The Pickens we saw at the combine isn't even the player they'll see when they start playing because he had an ACL tear in 2021 but still came back from it sufficiently to run a 4.47 in the 40 and do a 33-inch vertical leap. His vertical at full strength is much better than this. They would be getting a much-needed X-receiver of the highest quality to replace Allen Robinson, who disappointed last year with only 38 receptions due both to injuries and a failure to fit well with Justin Fields' style of play—not to mention an inexplicable change in Matt Nagy's offense away from their No. 1 target.

Putting Pickens in the current receiver corps is not enough yet but it's a start for the offense.

At this point in the draft, the most highly rated player was linebacker Brian Asamoah of Oklahoma. Although the Bears defense is more in need of cornerbacks, a safety and one interior defensive lineman, Asamoah is a player they could use and one who visited with them in the draft process. Turning their back on him here was difficult to take a receiver who is talented but has an injury past.

Round 2, Pick No. 6

LB Brian Asamoah, Oklahoma

Patience is a virtue and all things come to those who wait both are sayings proven true here. No one took Asamoah and he fell to No. 62, where the Bears were elated to get a young big-play linebacker to team with Roquan Smith and Nicholas Morrow. They have a real 4-3 linebacker corps now, and have to figure out how to use them. The 6-1, 228-pound Sooner ran a 4.56 40 and had a vertical leap like a defensive back at 36 1/2 inches. He made an interception, forcedthree fumbles and had 12 1/2 tackles for loss at Oklahoma in 32 games.

Round 3, Pick No. 71

G Cole Strange, Chattanooga

A player made for the Bears offensive system who fills the spot they have from James Daniels' departure. They've visited with him extensively. The 6-4, 304-pound guard moves well, is said to block the wide zone well, is a heady player, possesses position versatility as a center, but has a nasty side. He shocked the combine crowd when he told reporters he enjoyed playing his position because it allows him to legally be a "dickhead." The Bears really like him even if Chattanooga isn't exactly a power-5 conference. They'll take him here and pass on cornerback Martin Emerson of Mississippi State and safety Kerby Joseph of Illinois, who were available.

Round 3, Pick No. 94

T Kellen Diesch, Arizona State

Here is where the failure to take a cornerback or safety, or interior defensive lineman earlier will cost the Bears. With this pick acquired in the trade with KC, the Bears can't help their defense much the rest of the way due to a drop in talent level. However, they can find another offensive lineman capable here of blocking wide zone and keeping Justin Fields' clean. Diesch is 6-7 1/4 and 301 pounds, almost too thin but definitely athletic. He  can bulk up and has that long reach needed at left tackle. Pro Football Focus charted him at allowing more than one QB pressure in a game last year only once and only seven total. Consider the line stabilized for Fields.

Round 4, Pick No. 135

CB Cordale Flott, LSU

The last pick from the trade with the Chifs is a good time to reach for a cornerback as the supply has dwindled and Flott definitely has the skills to go higher, but not the body. He's only 175 pounds and needs to get into the weight room and cafeteria at Halas Hall. He definitely has the skill and it's suggested by scouts he could play inside because of his quickness, but at 6-1 his reach is such that he'd fit on the outside.

Round 5, Pick No. 148

S Percy Butler, Louisiana

They still need a safety and Butler definitely has the speed required in cover-2 with a 4.36-second time in the combine, but is just 194 pounds. He's more physical than his size suggests as he is an excellent special teams gunner. But the question is whether he is the type of safety they would want to combine with Eddie Jackson. They aren't really looking for a box safety but just a hitter.

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Round 5, No. 150

DT Jayden Peevy, Texas A&M

Not the quickest defensive tackle prospect for getting in gaps but at 6-5 and 308, with an ideal wingspan of 86 3/4 inches, he'll be a fly swatter and bring pressure in passing situations while attacking the gap. At this point, the Bears would be taking almost all overweight two-gap defensive linemen if they merely went by quality available, and that is not a fit for this defense. Peevy is more versatile than the 340-pound sect.

Round 6, No. 186

WR Emeka Emezie, N.C. State

The desire here is a slot receiver or tight end, but Emezie's X-receiver abilities stand out as too good to pass this late in the draft. Besides, they have a couple slot candidates already with Dazz Newsome and versatile Byron Pringle. Emezie is 6-3, 212 and produced at high levels every single college season. He had 47 catches or more each of his last four years, topping with 60 last year for 802 yards and six TDs. Definitely he isn't the fastest receiver and ran the 40 about what Allen Robinson did or slightly slower, 4.62, but has decent hands and good agility.

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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.

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