Draft rumors are inevitable every year. It’s what makes the entire process fun for fans and a gold mine of content for the media. Most of them don’t turn out true, but some of them do. It’s the same for the Chicago Bears. GM Ryan Poles has done an admirable job keeping his true intentions masked with less than two weeks before the draft. Even so, he hasn’t been able to stop a steady stream of rumors from finding their way into the cauldron that is the NFL media cycle.
The obvious debate among fans is to determine which of these rumors have any truth to them. So I decided to go through five of the most prevalent. I dictate which of them are likely true or false and explain why based on the evidence we have available.
They are ready to take Jalen Carter at #9 if he falls.
Assessment: True
A lot of fans won’t like it, but many things line up with this being the case. Poles said he has seven or eight players in this class rated as blue-chip talents. Carter is one of them. Most evaluators have him as the most talented overall. He’s a freak of nature that can dominate almost any blocker he goes up against. Yes, it’s acknowledged he has character questions. There are maturity concerns and worries about his work ethic. Yet this GM came from an organization that wasn’t afraid to gamble on questionable personalities if the talent was worth the risk. Throw in the fact he’s an ideal fit for Matt Eberflus’ scheme and it’s not a hard sell.
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Jaxon Smith-Njigba is also in play at that spot.
Assessment: False
The idea of giving Justin Fields another weapon always sounds great. It also makes sense because he was teammates with Smith-Njigba at Ohio State. Also, don’t forget Darnell Mooney and Chase Claypool both have expiring contracts. That said, this seems far from likely. While the talented receiver certainly has fans inside Halas Hall, there is no way to justify taking him at #9 in any scenario. Not when the Chicago Bears have pressing needs at several other more important positions like edge rusher, offensive tackle, and cornerback.
Poles wants to trade down a second time.
Assessment: True
It’s been well-established by now that the new Bears GM is a believer in quantity over quality. Rather than take calculated swings at key prospects like Ryan Pace, he thinks the odds improve of landing good players if you have more picks. Poles proved that last year when he turned five picks into 11. Next, there is the fact Chicago has no pick between the #9 and #53 spots. That is a gulf many deem too large. Moving down gives Poles a chance to narrow it. Last but not least, the general consensus on this draft class is there isn’t much difference in talent between players picked 9th and those picked in the teens. It would make sense in such circumstances to move down.
Calijah Kancey will be the pick if the Bears do move down.
Assessment: False
Let’s make this clear. Kancey’s interior pass rush skill is hard to deny. He was a force at Pitt during the past two years. He has the skill set made for a three-technique in Eberflus’ scheme. Under normal circumstances, this would be a no-brainer. That isn’t the case. Kancey has one glaring problem. He’s small. At 6’0 with 30-inch arms, he is severely undersized for the NFL. Poles and Eberflus constantly preach the desire for players with good size and length. They’ve adhered to that with every acquisition made thus far. It’s hard to imagine they suddenly pivot, even with Kancey being an obvious scheme fit.
Chicago Bears are hoping to land Joe Tippmann.
Assessment: True
This is for the exact same reasons mentioned above. This regime is big on size, length, and athleticism. Tippmann has all three. He’s gigantic for a center, standing 6’6, 313 lbs, and boasting arms just shy of 33 inches. He would be a big departure (literally) from what the Bears have gone with in recent years, like Sam Mustipher, Lucas Patrick, and others. Tippmann can move people in the ground game, functions well in space, and improved steadily as a pass protector. He embodies everything they would want in a center.
Hey Dilbo, your kind of an asshole aren’t you!
LittleBigToe, some people see things differently than you do. Welcome to life, glad to have you on board. A few tips… 1. Good and bad things will always happen. 2. Whenever you put an opinion out there, you should expect a few to come back to you. 3.I’m just being a wanker, don’t take me seriously.
Tippman has issues with his anchor ability, like Sam Mustipher. No thanks, we’ll pass
What’s with you guys. Would you rather Eric not write any columns for the next 2 weeks unless something factual happens?
Assessment: False
Because every other football related site is regurgitating the same stuff and you’ll read nothing of fact until draft day.
Common on the guy is trying to make a living.
Yeah I don’t know how you can make any of these claims. The fact is none of us know. So claiming True and False based on your opinion doesn’t make them any more true or false in reality.