Bears might believe the 2025 draft board will fall out of their favor regarding one of the team's top potential options in the first-round
Welcome to the heart of the NFL Draft cycle. It's the time of year when every move is scrutinized whether made by the prospects or made by the individuals inside various organizations around the league.Now is also the time when Pro Days are running all over the nation at various colleges and universities. These events […]
Welcome to the heart of the NFL Draft cycle. It's the time of year when every move is scrutinized whether made by the prospects or made by the individuals inside various organizations around the league.
Now is also the time when Pro Days are running all over the nation at various colleges and universities. These events are great from a pre-draft evaluation standpoint and they also give some inclinations on where certain teams might be leaning.
The problem that arises here is when Pro Days overlap on the same day, and people go crazy over general managers / head coaches being at one event over another.
That's exactly what happened on Wednesday. Seven different major programs held Pro Days on March 26th, including Ohio State and Boise State. The Chicago Bears sent a strong scouting party that included general manager Ryan Poles, head coach Ben Johnson, and defensive coordinator to Ohio State and people lost their heads.
The reason why is because the Bears top decision-makers weren't at Boise State getting their eyes on the top running back prospect in Ashton Jeanty.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas Raiders general manager John Spytek was in attendance at Boise State, as was New Orleans Saints running backs coach Joel Thomas.
Those two teams are the Bears top threats from snatching Jeanty off the board before Chicago steps up to the podium with the 10th overall pick. But let me be clear, these Pro Days and who's in attendance or not isn't the end all be all.
Bears Still Showing Strong Interest In Jeanty
Just because Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson (or even running backs coach Eric Bieniemy for that matter), weren't at Boise State on Wednesday doesn't mean Jeanty is off the Bears board or the team isn't interested.
The Bears just wanted to maximize their time by viewing multiple top prospects at Ohio State. The team is still expected to have a Top-30 visit with Jeanty before April's draft. As for the competition of who could draft him, it is what it is. There's nothing the Bears can do about that besides trading up and wasting other draft picks.
If the Raiders or Saints snipe Jeanty off the board at six or nine, it isn't the end of the world, and honestly it's pretty likely to happen in my opinion. The Bears have contingency plans in place for any scenario that might unfold in the Top-10 selections and beyond.
Managing the resources effectively by sending a strong crew to Ohio State to scout multiple top prospects there was the right move and sets the board up for the entire draft, not just the 10th overall pick.
This is an incredibly long and tedious process. There's no need to micro-analyze every decision that is, or isn't made, this time of year. At the end of the day, the Bears still have high interest in Jeanty and will let the board fall as it may.
