Most of the Chicago Bears draft picks in 2020 had some sort of notoriety. Cole Kmet and Jaylon Johnson were favorites among the media and fans. Trevis Gipson, Kindle Vildor, and Darnell Mooney all had admirers in the scouting community. Even Arlington Hambright, their 7th round pick, earned some love during his time at Colorado. If anybody came across as a true “who the heck is that?” guy, it was Lachavious Simmons.
All anybody could tell from immediate research was he’s a big kid who comes from Tennessee State. The same college that produced Richard Dent. His nickname is “Pig.” That is pretty much it. Even longtime Bears insider Hub Arkush admitted he knew nothing about Simmons. So he reached out to connections in the scouting community to find out.
The answers he got were unexpectedly positive.
“After doing this as long as I have it’s pretty rare when a player gets drafted that I’ve never heard of or have nothing on at all, but at 227 Lachavious Simmons checked that box so that’s why I was up working the phones this morning and I came away intrigued.
He played everywhere but center along the offensive line in college, is bigger and much more athletic than Hambright and apparently he has a bit of a nasty streak. A couple scouts tell me he could be a pleasant surprise.”
Chicago Bears have history on their side with this one
There are two reasons to think this pick can actually end up working in their favor. First is the Dent connection. Historically Black Colleges have been quite good to the Bears over the years. Dent is one example. Walter Payton, Willie Galimore, and Tarik Cohen are others. Then there is the unusual streak of good fortune they’ve had with late-round offensive linemen in the past several years.
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Mark Bortz was the 219th pick in 1983. He became a fixture at guard for them through the rest of the decade. Charles Leno Jr. was the 246th pick in 2014. He’s been their starting left tackle since 2015 and made a Pro Bowl. J’Marcus Webb (218th) and Lance Louis (246th) were never studs but they became serviceable starters for periods of time with the team. So it’s not like grabbing Simmons is a pointless exercise. He has talent.
The Bears feel they can bring even more out of him than he showed at Tennessee State.
