Mocking the Mocks: A look at SB Nation’s 3 round Chicago Bears mock draft

With the 2016 season officially in the books, you can expect our offseason coverage of the Chicago Bears to really start to ramp up here at Windy City Gridiron. EJ Snyder kicked off his fantastic Draftwatch series yesterday, Robert Zeglinski has been running through some free agent option (he looked at corners yesterday) and I’ll be winding down my roster turnover series this week (yesterday it did the inside linebackers).

The offseason means mock draft season and we’ll have plenty of draft stuff in leading up to the 2017 NFL Draft. Today we’ll take a peek at the three round mock from SB Nation’s draft guru, Dan Kadar (@MockingTheDraft).

His top two picks went like this, Myles Garrett, DE, Texas A&M to the Cleveland Browns at 1 and with the 2nd pick he had the San Francisco 49ers taking Mitch Trubisky, QB, North Carolina.

Which left the Bears with plenty of options, but Kadar had them going this route...

3 - DeShone Kizer, QB, Notre Dame

When I asked him why he went with the ND signal caller, he told me “Going with Kizer with the third overall pick sort of feels like a fallback if Mitch Trubisky is gone – which he was in this scenario. I see Kizer as a better fit in Chicago than Deshaun Watson, he'll just either need to learn quickly or be brought along slowly.”

His 2nd round pick for the Bears is a guy we haven’t talked much about, but he’s a guy that makes sense.

35. Chicago Bears: Teez Tabor, CB, Florida

Here’s what Kadar told me about Tabor.

Going with Teez Tabor at No. 35 was an easy pick even though the Bears finished in the top 10 in the league in pass defense. Tabor's draft range starts in the middle of the first round, he just happened to slide into the top of the second. He's a really good off man coverage cornerback who also excels in zone. There are some issues with him pressing because if he gets beat his catch up speed leaves something to be desired. For the Bears, he'll really be an asset as a player who can get his hands on the ball. I know Chicago finished high in total pass defense, but I think a player like Tabor can lead to more turnovers.

If Tabor (6’, 201) falls to the 2nd round, it’ll be a steal for the Bears. In three years at Florida, Tabor had 104 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, 8 interceptions, 3 of which he returned for TDs, 28 passes defended, 3 fumble recoveries and 1 forced fumble.

In the 3rd round Kadar has the Bears addressing another need.

67. Chicago Bears: Bucky Hodges, TE, Virginia Tech

With Bucky Hodges in the third round, it was down to him and Troy offensive tackle Antonio Garcia. There's something I like about pairing a young quarterback and tight end together. It could be Chicago's version of Tony Romo and Jason Witten potentially. Like many tight ends, Hodges is more of a hybrid tight end/wide receiver who is most comfortable playing in the slot instead of on the line of scrimmage. He's really good at working the seam, but he's quick enough to play underneath as well.

Garcia would be an intriguing option, as he had really solid week of practice down at the Senior Bowl, but Hodges fills a need. I’ve seen him listed at both 6’6” and 6’7”, but either way, the 245 pounder is a mismatch in the passing game.

What do you guys think about Kadar’s mock? Be sure to check it out and let us know if that’s the way you’d have gone if the real draft falls this way.