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Mock Draft season seems to be getting longer and longer every year. With the Chicago Bears limping to a 5-11 record in 2014, we shared a few mock drafts earlier than ever before. The NFL Draft and mock drafts in particular may not be your thing, but they consistently drive a lot of conversation among our members.
So someone must like them.
The point of the mock draft isn't to correctly match every pick to their future team, it's to learn more about the potential prospects that could be heading to your favorite team. Sure there are some egomaniacs that truly believe they are going to nail every pick, but time and time again the best mock drafters are lucky to get a few right. There are just too many variables in the real NFL draft.
When it comes to mock drafts, I just use them as a tool. I go over the mock, learn about some of the prospects the Bears could target, then check out another mock, then repeat.
When the Bears took Kyle Fuller at 14 last year, it was a surprise to many, but regular readers of Windy City Gridiron were already hip the the possibility of Fuller because of this mock draft. We spotlighted a few mocks here, and Fuller was the pick at 14 in one of them. Fuller also went to the Bears (albeit via a trade down) in this mock. We also learned a little about Ego Ferguson, Will Sutton and Brock Vereen by looking at a few mocks in this article.
So for those of you that really get into this time of year, we'll have plenty of draft coverage for you. But if the draft isn't your cup-of-tea, we've got plenty of other stuff around here as well.
So with that being said, on to today's Mock Draft!
Dan Kadar of SB Nation and Mocking the Draft fame, dropped his latest mock draft today and it's a 2 rounder. In the first round he has the Bears going in what will probably be a popular direction.
7. Chicago Bears: Dante Fowler, DE, Florida
The Bears have a good pass rusher in Willie Young, but the addition of Jared Allen last offseason just didn't pay off. Fowler is a relentless defensive lineman who can line up in a variety of ways.
Fowler played all along Florida's defensive front, but he may best project to a 3-4 outside linebacker. At least one scout compares him to the 5th pick in last year's draft, Khalil Mack, who went to the Oakland Raiders and had 76 tackles and 4 sacks as a rookie.
In the second round of Kadar's mock draft he has the Bears going with offensive tackle Daryl Williams of Oklahoma. Kadar didn't give any details in his article on his 2nd round picks, but exclusively for the WCG readers, he dropped some knowledge.
Oklahoma has two offensive tackles in the draft this year, and Williams is the better of the two despite being a right side blocker. He's a physical player, which you would expect coming out of that program. I really like him as a rugged run blocker because he's hard to move off his spot. He's thick throughout his frame too, so it's hard for a power rusher to find something to exploit in his blocking. He may not be a fleet-footed blocker, but he would be an upgrade over Jordan Mills. Pairing him next to Kyle Long would give the Bears one of the league's more aggressive blocking combinations on the right side.
A 6'6", 329 pounder, that's a rugged run blocker, sounds like the kind of player new Bears GM Ryan Pace would draft for head coach Jon Fox.
Now you know the drill... Take a gander at Dan Kadar's latest mock draft and let us know if these are the directions you'd go if the actual draft fell this way.