Bears Mock Draft Monday: First week of free agency reveals more about the team's draft plans
The first week of the free agency frenzy is behind us and with the dust settled after a busy week, it's time to revisit what the Bears could do in the 2024 NFL Draft. The Bears' front office seemed to show their hands last week after seeing which positions they targeted and which positions they […]
The first week of the free agency frenzy is behind us and with the dust settled after a busy week, it's time to revisit what the Bears could do in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The Bears' front office seemed to show their hands last week after seeing which positions they targeted and which positions they chose to ignore on the open market. After trading away Justin Fields, the Bears also have a clear shot to draft a quarterback with the first overall pick to take over as the team's starter.
In this mock draft, I will have the Bears making a trade on the opening night. After trading for wide receiver Keenan Allen and offensive lineman Ryan Bates, the team currently holds just four selections in April's draft. I will have the Bears trading the ninth overall pick to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for the 15th overall pick and the Colts' second round selection (46th overall). With that being said, let's begin.
1st Overall Pick: QB Caleb Williams
The Bears' front office made this decision all but official over the weekend after trading Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers. All eyes are now on USC quarterback Caleb Williams to be the Bears' next franchise quarterback going forward.
Chicago's front office will still take the time over the next few weeks to still dive more in Williams' background and fit with the team. Williams and the Bears will eventually have their Top-30 visit together and will meet again during his pro day on March 20th.
Nothing between now and April's draft should steer the Bears away from making this a reality and the decision to already part ways with their 2023 starter is even more evidence to back up this widely expected decision.
15th Overall Pick (via IND): DE Laiatu Latu
With such a low number of available draft picks following the first week of free agency, the Bears could be looking to work the phones once again during the opening day of the draft with their second pick in the first round.
In this mock, I had the Colts moving up into the Top-10 allowing the Bears to slide back a few spots and still fill a major position of need in the first round. The Bears elected not to pursue a top edge rusher on the open market last week, leading me to believe that the front office and head coach Matt Eberflus trust bringing in a rookie pass rusher to play opposite of Montez Sweat.
As it stands, UCLA's Laiatu Latu seems like the perfect fit for the Bears. After the NFL Combine, Latu's projection range slightly fell down according to the latest mock drafts, which is good news for the Bears. Latu met with the Bears during the combine, so the interest is definitely there between the two parties.
46th Overall Pick (via IND): WR Roman Wilson
After trading for another Pro Bowl wide receiver in free agency, I had the Bears neglect to add another pass catcher in the first round and instead traded back to land a top pass rusher. However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t think the Bears will look to add another wide receiver on offense.
Allen currently has only one year remaining on his contract he signed with the Los Angeles Chargers and if a new deal doesn’t get agreed to in Chicago, the Bears will need to add another high-profile wide receiver to the offense. And if a new deal does get worked out, it doesn’t hurt to surround Williams with more offensive weapons.
With the Colts' second round pick, the Bears have the luxury of still being able to land a solid wide receiver in the second/third tier such as Michigan's Roman Wilson. After other receivers dominated the combine, Wilson's name has gotten buried among the incoming class of wide receivers which will prove to be a mistake. The Bears can snag a incredible player in the second round who's coming off a 12 touchdown season while on the College Football National Champion's offense.
75th Overall Pick: TE Ben Sinnott
Tight end doesn’t seem like an overly pressing need for the Bears' offense after bringing in Gerald Everett in free agency as the second tight end behind Cole Kmet, but I think offensive coordinator Shane Waldron will swing his way to getting another.
Waldron's offense loves to utilize different types of tight ends and has used various three tight end sets in the past. The addition of Kansas State's Ben Sinnott will give the Bears three different types of tight ends to utilize to keep defenses off balance.
Sinnott met with a few members of the Bears' coaching staff back in Indianapolis who gauged his interest in playing more out of the backfield as a pseudo-fullback/H-back. He has prior experience in the backfield and utilizing that within Waldron's scheme could allow him to draw up some creative plays in the passing and run game.
122nd Overall: DT Mekhi Wingo
Another position that wasn’t addressed in free agency that is viewed as a lesser ranked need is the interior of the defensive line. The Bears were linked to a few different interior defensive linemen in free agency but never pulled the trigger to bring one in.
Personally, I view this as a small need on defense with Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens set to enter into their second seasons and Andrew Billings under contract. However, we all know how much new defensive coordinator Eric Washington feels about his defensive line and having multiple bodies to rotate on and off the field.
Based on that, and how the Bears have handled the position in free agency, I think general manager Ryan Poles will appease his new defensive coach but in the way that he's grown to trust. Dexter and Pickens were both SEC interior defensive lineman, and so is LSU's Mekhi Wingo. Wingo is a little bit lighter than Dexter and Pickens, giving Washington a different style of player to use in his rotation.
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