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The NFL Draft is still a couple months away but who doesn’t love a mock draft?
The NFL Combine kicks off next week and will greatly ramp up the draft talk, which will really hit a fever pitch after the initial weeks of free agency.
So I thought I would bring you, the fans, a well-thought out seven-round mock of what Ryan Pace and the Bears personnel staff will do during the draft.
The Bears have plenty of needs and there are a lot of tantalizing options, so let’s see how this shakes out:
R1P3 - Deshaun Watson, QB, Clemson
Is Watson worth the No. 3 overall pick? That’s for history to decide. Watson is a heck of a gamer and has plenty of college starts (unlike most of the other QB prospects). So why not take the one with the best sample size to get a feel for?
R2P36 - Patrick Mahomes, QB, Texas Tech
Whoa, another QB? Yup. Ryan Pace can’t afford to miss on his one and only shot at taking a franchise QB, so he will double down on the prospects to give himself the best chance at finding the signal caller of the future.
R3P67 - Brad Kaaya, QB, Miami
Can’t miss on all of them right? The Seattle Seahawks famously struck gold in the third round by taking Russell Wilson, so why let that potential gem slip by another round? If the board falls this way, watch out for Pace to triple dip in the most important position on the field. Yippee Kaaya Mr. Falcon!
R4P104 - Nathan Peterman, QB, Pitt
Sure, the Bears could use some secondary help and if Alshon Jeffery is gone they will need some WR depth, but how can they pass on one of the biggest sleeper QB prospects in this draft? The Bears got an up close look at him during the Senior Bowl so they might have the inside track on if he can play.
R4P115 - Davis Webb, QB, Cal
Just six picks later Pace is going to want to take the other sleeper QB prospect. Can’t be too careful. After passing on Dak Prescott in the fourth round last season, he doesn’t want to hear fans complaining about that sort of thing again. There’s still plenty of time to address other needs.
R5P148 - Chad Kelly, QB, Ole Miss
Some may think it’s impossible that by this point in the draft Pace wouldn’t take a sixth straight QB, but that’s exactly why he would. No one would expect a team to completely tank their draft to find their next QB, but think of all the trade ammunition the Bears will have. QB starved teams will be trading them picks left and right for the Bears’ QB riches.
Plus Kelly is seen as the prospect most closely resembling Jay Cutler. So if all else fails, in a way, all roads can lead back to Cutler 2.0. Think of the good potential Jay once had!
R7P223 - C.J. Beathard, Iowa
No way Pace spends all of his picks on QBs? Hogwash! There’s no reason not to! No team ever found their franchise QB by NOT drafting a QB. Gotta keep picking until you hit one and carrying seven rookie QBs into camp to compete with Connor Shaw is a fool proof way to find the QB of the future. And if that one doesn’t work out there’s six more to choose from. You can’t miss on a prospect if you don’t pick him. Remember, you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take. Bears can’t miss this way.
What do you think of this draft? Would you be happy if this was the haul the Bears walked away with?