The Chicago Bears came out with a draft class last month that they’re happy with. Despite some unexpected twists along the way, most feel the team secured some quality talent for their roster. None should be happier about it than Caleb Williams. The young quarterback already had three solid pass targets from last season. Now he’ll be joined by Colston Loveland and Luther Burden. However, no draft goes flawlessly. While the Bears achieved most of their objectives, there was one that never quite got done as they’d hoped.
Almost everybody expected them to target a running back early in the draft. So for them not to take one until the 7th round felt like an instance where something went wrong. Reports surfaced that they had hoped to get their guy early on day two and wanted to trade up for him. Unfortunately, things didn’t come together. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN confirmed this in his latest column. It reached a point where it looked like they had a deal in place. Then everything fell apart at the last moment.
Some inside the league believe the Bears tried to make an early Day 2 move, possibly to move up four spots to Tennessee’s selection at No. 35. Knowing Chicago’s legwork on running backs, Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson would have made a lot of sense in that regard.
The Chicago Bears were undone by a third party.
It was clear Tennessee wanted to move down from the 35th pick. GM Ryan Poles had a personal relationship with new Titans GM Mike Borgonzi. It should’ve been a smooth process. However, the Seattle Seahawks swooped in at the last second with an offer for their 52nd pick and a 3rd round pick. The Chicago Bears didn’t have the capital to match without overpaying. They tried finding another taker, but no other team was interested in moving. As a result, TreVeyon Henderson went to the Patriots at 38th overall. It was heartbreaking for the Bears, who’d reportedly been high on him throughout the draft process. That will be one of those what-if stories if the running back becomes a good player in New England.
