Chicago Bears’ First-Round Plan Leaked—And It Creates A Major Dilemma

The Chicago Bears have been cagey about their draft plans for the 1st round on Thursday. That is no surprise. The fewer people who know about their intentions, the better. It improves the odds of them landing a player they want and also heightens their prospects of working a trade if they wish. However, NFL insiders gets paid too. They’ve been digging into the league for nuggets on what the Bears may or may not have planned. Several of them have reached a conclusion. They have eyes for a possible left tackle at #25.

Dan Graziano of ESPN was the latest to confirm this, stating in his latest column that the Bears are one of several teams hoping to come out of the 1st round with a top offensive lineman.

I’m predicting at least seven and as many as 10 offensive linemen get picked in the first round. There’s a late-round zone loaded with teams that would love to come out of Thursday night with a new offensive lineman, including the Lions, Panthers, Steelers, Chargers, Eagles, Browns, Bears, 49ers, Chiefs and Patriots. Kansas City could even use its No. 9 pick on an offensive tackle and no one would be surprised. Baltimore could take Ioane at No. 14, if he’s there.

This isn’t a huge surprise. Chicago has no definitive answer at left tackle going into next season. Ozzy Trapilo might miss the entire year with his knee injury. Braxton Jones and Jedrick Wills are one-year stopgaps at best. Head coach Ben Johnson has made it pretty clear he wants some stability at that position. His best chance to get it might be with that 25th overall pick.

The Chicago Bears are in a brutal spot if this is true.

If you follow the recent draft breadcrumbs, many insiders are starting to hear there could be a major run on offensive tackles in the 1st round. It could start as early as the Los Angeles Rams at #13 overall. Then you have Detroit (#17), Pittsburgh (#21), Philadelphia (#23), and Cleveland (#24) all having clear needs at the position. This is before you mention Houston (#28), who many feel might trade up to get one of those tackles for their own line. If all of those teams pounce, then the talent pool will be empty by the time the Bears are on the clock.

That leaves them one of two options. Either they try trading up to get the guy they want, or they shift their priority to a different position. Sports Mockery reached out to contacts close to Halas Hall about this situation. It was made crystal clear. If the tackle run plays out as anticipated, the Bears will open the door to pretty much every position, hoping to land the best player possible. It would be similar to the strategy they deployed last year after losing out on some of the top running backs.

This would explain why the Bears are likely to prefer trading down.

They see the writing on the wall. One thing about general manager Ryan Poles is that he’s been great at projecting how the 1st round is likely to unfold. This has allowed him to craft alternative plans for such scenarios. One that he’s utilized in the past is trading down. The general belief is that there isn’t much separating players selected in the 20s from those who go in the 40s in terms of talent this year. The Chicago Bears only have seven picks this year and several roster spots to fill. Moving down might be in their best interests if one of those tackles they like doesn’t fall.

Based on the current landscape, most believe the Bears will do the boring thing and take the best defensive lineman on their board. It makes sense. They badly need help up front and there are good options in this class. The problem has been that all of them come with questions. Keldric Faulk had limited sack production in college. Zion Young is an average athlete with some iffy off-the-field issues. T.J. Parker regressed last season. Kayden McDonald is mostly a run defender. Peter Woods underachieved given his talent.

It comes down to who the Bears think has the best chance of becoming a good player.