Bear Digest

Ranking Prospects Who Could Best Elevate Bears as No. 9 Pick

Analysis: Ranking the players who can immediately impact the Bears best for the 2024 season at the ninth spot in Round 1.

Gene Chamberlain

Brock Bowers' ability after the catch is obvious but how impactful could a third tight end be as a rookie in the Bears offense?
Brock Bowers' ability after the catch is obvious but how impactful could a third tight end be as a rookie in the Bears offense? / Jake Crandall / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Bears coach Matt Eberflus noted the progress of his team over the previous two years while talking to reporters during the offseason.

"You just point to the first two years," Eberflus said. "That first draft class, all the guys that played there, the free agents that we signed there and then last year, huge free agency class, with the draft class there, all those guys played.

"So that's the foundation that we have built at the Bears."

The Bears no longer need personnel en masse at every position the way they did in 2022 and in 2023. They've progressed.

It's why they wouldn't even need to trade back at any point and could still come away feeling they've had a successful draft with only four picks.

Five or six picks would be fine, but the team is at a point where quality matters more than quantity.

Finding a few very good players who can make immediate impacts is critical now for the few roster or lineup holes they do have.

They already know the instant impact Caleb Williams will bring at No. 1 overall to their quarterback position. They might actually have a 4,000-yard quarterback, let alone a 3,000-yard QB.

It's the ninth pick overall where they want the next player of immediate impact. Here are the player choices ranked in order who could best step in at the ninth spot and make a difference

This does not include players they could move up and acquire. You always dream about such moves but they're purely fantasy at this point. Focus on what they have and what's going to be available. And here are those in order who can make the biggest impact.

1. DE Jared Verse, Florida State

He's regarded by Mel Kiper Jr. as the No. 1 defensive end for a reason. He plays defensive end, not outside linebacker. He's a bigger, stronger player who bench-pressed an astounding 31 times at the combine and it is reflected in the way he frequently tosses around tackles. Yet, he also has the speed in 4.58 seconds for the 40 with a 1.6 seconds for a 10-yard split. This allows him to close fast on a quarterback. Verse plays the run and plays the pass and this is what Eberflus requires in this scheme.

Coming in at 6-foot-3 7/8 and 254 pounds gives him the ability to be the strong edge and the 4.58 40 puts him in the top 10% for his position speed-wise at combines. The one criticism being leveled about him by more than one analyst is "stiff" hips. They'll look plenty flexible enough when they're closing in on someone's quarterback. Combined with Montez Sweat in the rush, the Bears would realize their biggest immediate boost by picking him at No. 9.

2. DE Laiatu Latu, UCLA

There would be no better choice to come in and already know the techniques necessary for defensive ends to rush the passer. He already seems to have all of this from mastery of hand usage to being able to stop the run and make plays by closing rapidly. He's tall at 6-4 3/4, even a little heavier than Verse, though not nearly as strong, and has a background in rugby that makes him very useful when the pocket has broken down and when there is a loose ball. His past neck injury and very short arms at 32-5/7 inches make him less of an immediate pass rusher than Verse.

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Although not as fast (4.64, 1.62 10-yard split) and ultimately lacking ideal height with only a 32-inch veritcal leap, it make him less useful in the scheme long term for tipped passes and pass rush. For 2024, though, his technique shown in 23 1/2 sacks and 35 tackles for loss the last two years gets him close to the best available.

3. DE Dallas Turner, Alabama

Because of his tremendous speed—4.46 40 ranking in the top 2% ever for edge players—and athleticism, with a 40 1/2-inch veritcal leap for a 6-2 3/4, 247-pound player, there is no doubt Turner is going to be a strong pass rusher. He has displayed it against top SEC competition. However, he'll need to be stronger and gain more weight to get it done in a Bears scheme emphasizing a stout defensive end to stop the run and screen game. He also is more of a 3-4 outside linebacker, so some technique issues from a three-point stance need to be addressed.

The adjustment time might not be long but at the outset his impact would be lower than the other two edge players. Eventually, Turner might become a dominant player. If Turner fell past Atlanta, it seems likely GM Ryan Poles would take him over the top two because of his higher ceiling. GMs don't think about immediate fit as much as they do the long haul.

4. WR Rome Odunze

In a different situation, Odunze would have the biggest immediate impact of anyone on the Bears. If it was 2022 or possbly even last year, Odunze would be a better choice for rapid returns.

However, there is only one football and they have Keenan Allen and DJ Moore likely to be targeted this season far in excess of any drafted wide receiver. Even if a miracle happened and Marvin Harrison Jr. fell to them or Nabers fell to them, both Moore and Allen are going to get far more chances at catches than the rookie receiver will.

Last year in Waldron's Seattle offense, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett both reached or exceeded 80% of snaps. Rookie third receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba only reached 64%. Eventually the role will expand but for this team in 2024, any receiver taken will be less impactful in Year 1 because of the veterans ahead of him. Odunze can supply qualities they would lack with Nabers because he is better at contested catches, not that Nabers is bad at it. He just has more speed and is more explosive after the catch than Odunze.

5. WR Malik Nabers

It's unlikely he's going to fall or be available at No. 9, and moving up might cost too much draft capital. So it's better not to put him higher than Odunze, who the Bears would have a much better opportunity to draft.

Yet, in terms of greatest immediate impact there can be no doubt about the effect Nabers would have. His explosiveness and yards after the catch would combine well with both DJ Moore and Keenan Allen. The fact they're unlikely to get him and a perceived need to sharpen route running skills are the only drawbacks here.

6. T Joe Alt

Never underestimate the impact a top left tackle can have on an offense. From the time Jimbo Covert began starting for the Bears offense, it seemed to take off because of the extra time he gave QBs to throw and run blocking for Walter Payton. It's the same today.

With Alt being almost 6-foot-9, with an 82 3/4-inch wingspan and also being fast enough for a 5.05-second 40, it immediately upgrades over Braxton Jones. However, Jones is not a bad tackle and the difference between the two is not as big as the repercussions would be for the defense from having one of the top edge rushers. Still, with Alt playing you have to think he'd do better than the nine sacks and 72 pressures allowed, and 21 penalties committed by Jones over the last two years.

7. TE Brock Bowers

The tendency is to discount him because he is a tight end and the huge majority at this position are less impactful than good rookie wide receivers. Tight ends take a year or more to fit into the NFL. Antonio Gates, Rob Gronkowski, Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert, Travis Kelce, the list is fairly endless of tight ends whose careers vaulted after Year 1.

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However, Bowers can be so much more than a tight end with the right offensive coordinator. Is Shane Waldron one? He did know how to use three tight ends well and extensively with Seattle, but in this case we're talking about imagination and devising ways to get the ball to a player who is 6-foot-4, but 230 pounds and would be found mostly somewhere in the middle of the defense. Too much depends on Williams being willing to throw downfield over the middle into zones for Bowers to have a large rookie impact. Rookie QBs normally don't want to try that type of target often once they get picked off a few times.

8. DE Chop Robinson

His lack of fundmentals will hold him back early and that's about all that will because he has ridiculous 4.48-second speed. This can be offset sometimes with player usage, the way Dallas did with Micah Parsons moving all around the formation. The thing with Robinson is he isn't as adaptable to other spots as the more athletic Parsons, and Eberflus' defensive scheme really doesn't have that wild card element to it that the Cowboys had with  Dan Quinn.

Also, Robinson didn't do enough yet at Penn State to foster hope he can immediately produce at an even higher level of play. Too much of expectation for him is based on athletic potential and not past production.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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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.