Chicago Bears 7-round Best Player Available Mock Draft

If you’ve been following my mock drafts through the years, you’ll know that I look at these as more of a way to learn about some possible Chicago Bears prospects rather than me making a prediction of exactly what the Bears are going to do.

I like to do theme mocks, where I put myself in a situation based on some specific criteria, and this first one has me taking a best player available approach with a few caveats. Basically I take which ever player is at the top of The Draft Network’s board except...

• No double dipping at a position until the seventh round.
• If I haven’t filled an obvious need by the 7th round, I’ll go down the board to find the BPA at a need position.
• No running backs til the 7th round.
• I’m allowed one pass if there’s a player on top of the board that I simply don’t like.

If you want to see how my mock fell just click here to see my saved BPA draft.

Now don’t forget, my hands were tied for the most part in the mock, and this is simply an exercise to learn about some prospects that could be had by the Bears.

43. Terrell Lewis, EDGE, Alabama

Injuries the last two years could push Lewis (6’5”, 262 lbs) even further down most teams draft boards, but if healthy he would be an upgrade over the Bears backup outside linebackers from a year ago. This is my least favorite BPA pick of this draft as there are several prospects that went after 43 that I would rather see the Bears take.

Our lead draft analyst, Jacob Infante, has Lewis as his #9 EDGE prospect.

In hindsight I should have used my pass on this one and grabbed Penn State wide out K.J. Hamler.

50. Antoine Winfield Jr., S, Minnesota

This may be my favorite pick in this BPA mock. Winfield can compete to start from day one and while not the biggest safety at 5’9”, 203 pounds, he’s physical enough to play close to the line of scrimmage. He’s Jacob’s 4th ranked safety and 31st player overall.

140. Solomon Kindley, IOL, Georgia

I suppose I was fortunate an offensive guard popped up on my board this early, but Kindley (6’3”, 337) isn’t my favorite offensive lineman. He’s a physical player, but his technique gets sloppy at times, and he’s a guard only prospect. He’s 6th on Jacob’s list of interior o-linemen.

This is the round I used my pass on as I skipped over Texas wide out, Collin Johnson, who doesn’t have the deep speed I think the Bears will be looking for.

163. Devin Duvernay, WR, Texas

And speaking of deep speed, as luck would have it the next BPA pick had Johnson’s Texas teammate, Duvernay and his 4.39 forty speed, sitting there for me. The 5’10”, 200 pounder needs to hone his route running, but the former Texas state champion in the 100-meters can thrive with some run after the catch opportunities.

196. Terence Steele, OT, Texas Tech

The right tackle prospect has good size for the position (6’6”, 312), and he’s a 4 year starter, but his technique gets him in trouble at times.

200. Dane Jackson, CB, Pittsburgh

Jacoson (6’, 187 lbs) was a player our senior draft analyst, EJ Snyder, was looking forward to seeing at the Senior Bowl, and he had a decent week of practice down in Mobile.

226. Levonta Taylor, CB, Florida State

The Draft Network lists Taylor (5”10”, 190) at corner, but he played safety his senior year for the Seminoles, and could also play some big nickel. He’s a good athlete that would help on special teams as a rookie.

With both of these 7th round picks I had to go way down the board past several wide outs to get to a couple players at need positions for the Bears.

233. T.J. Brunson, LB, South Carolina

Brunson (6’, 219) had a nice week in Mobile at the Senior Bowl and he averaged 90 tackles a year for the last three seasons for the Gamecocks. With Danny Trevantan re-signing last night it put inside linebacker a bit further down the Bears needs, but they will still need another ILB if they lose Nick Kwiatkoski (likely) or Kevin Pierre-Louis (I think he’s retained).

I would have liked to get a tight end, but the 7th rounders I could have snagged didn’t do it for me, and at this point the Bears could probably just look to the UDFA market to add to that spot.

In the coming weeks I’ll probably hit on a few more “theme” mocks with another BPA mock, plus do a trade up and trade down version, and do one that targets specific needs all the way through.