Botching the Second Bears First-Round Pick

A few of the first mock drafts after the Justin Fields trade and one week into free agency fail to see the most pressing Bears need clearly.

Bears draft needs seem obvious enough after the trades of last week, yet several of the first mock drafts after a week of free agency seem oblivious.

In case it needs to be spelled out at this point, the two defensive tackles the Bears have who can play for Justin Jones were graded by Pro Football Focus as 104th and 118th against the run out of 130 graded defensive tackles in the NFL last season. No. 104 was Zacch Pickens and 118 Gevon Dexter.

Both showed some flash in pass rush but came up porous against the run.

In case people forgot—and they probably did—the turnaround of the Bears defense last season began not when Montez Sweat came over as a pass rusher but when they solidified their run defense and went from No. 31 in the league in 2022 to No. 1. They did this by putting Andrew Billings together with Justin Jones at tackle and plugging T.J. Edwwards in at weakside linebacker behind them.

Jones is gone, the two tackles behind him showed no signs they're ready to do what he was doing, and this isn't even their only need on the defensive line.

They're not going into next season with Jake Martin as their big edge addition to take double-team pressure off Montez Sweat's side of the line.

Knowing their need for defensive line help, and after trading for a $23 million cap hit with Keenan Allen, some mock drafts still see them selecting a receiver at No. 9.

Someone needs to get real here.

Pro Football Focus' Trevor Sikkema sees the Bears taking Caleb Williams No. 1, of course, then a third receiver instead of a No. 2 edge rusher. Sikkema has the Bears goinng for Malik Nabers of LSU at No. 9.

"You're telling me Caleb Williams is going to get to throw to DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Malik Nabers?" Sikkem writes. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm telling you."

Good luck watching Sweat getting beat up an and worn down like Khalil Mack did in 2019 and 2020.

Well, there's always Round 2. But, of course, the Bears don't have a Round 2 pick because they used it for Sweat.

Round 3? Sikkema's draft is a three-rounder and he has them selecting center Sedric Van Pran of Georgia even after signing two potential starting centers during free agency.

The 33rd Team's Marcus Mosher took this idea a step beyond what Sikkema did and failed to even come up with a third receiver besides not improving their pass rush or run defense.

After Williams at No. 1, he has the Bears drafting Notre Dame tackle Joe Alt No. 9.

If the Bears had a dire need at tackle, protecting your No. 1 overall pick at quarterback is entirely logical.

Braxton Jones hasn't been a bad left tackle. His pass blocking needed to improve against the bull rush following Year 1 and it did. He's a solid left tackle, and now they're not getting a third receiver or an edge rusher or a defensive tackle to draft a left tackle. OK.

"The Bears don't really need a left tackle, with Braxton Jones playing well in Year 2," Mosher acknowledged. "But Joe Alt is too good of a value to pass up here. With four quarterbacks and two wide receivers picked in the top six, it allows a talent like Alt to fall to No. 9. The Bears can start Alt at left tackle and solidify their offensive line in front of Williams."

He'll no doubt be a great success in the NFL with his size, maneuverability and blocking technique. It still doesn't give Sweat support as a pass rusher and it doesn't let the Bears stop the run as well as they did when Jones was their 3-technique.

https://www.the33rdteam.com/nfl-mock-draft-2024-latest-predictions-after-first-week-of-free-agency/

There are enough mock drafters for CBS Sports now to field a basketball team but the first one to come out with a mock draft at a week after the start of free agency showed he gets it. In fact, he showed this in two ways.

Veteran Ryan Wilson has the Bears selecting Alabama's Dallas Turner at No. 9.

"It'll be interesting to see which edge rusher goes off the board first; I lean slightly to (Jared) Verse but could understand why a team prefers Turner, one of the most explosive players in this class," Wilson wrote. "With Keenan Allen now in Chicago, the Bears—like the Falcons above—can focus on defense here. (Alternatively, now with just four picks in the entire draft, they could choose to trade down.)"

The trade down at No. 9 seems even more possible now than ever, just like a defensive pick going to the Bears with the first-rounder they get to take after selecting Williams.

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