Surprising Insight From Former GM Suggests Chicago Bears Skip A 1st Round EDGE

For months since the season ended, experts have agreed that the Chicago Bears should be focused on edge rushers. Montez Sweat is entering his 30s. Austin Bookers is still an unknown quantity. Dominique Robinson and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka are both gone. They need another body. The Bears haven’t taken an edge rusher in the 1st round for ten years. It feels long overdue. However, given how the team has operated thus far, it doesn’t feel like edge rusher is a clear priority. They’ve been looking at multiple position groups, including left tackle.

One could take this to mean the team isn’t overly enthusiastic about its likely options at the 25th pick. The last thing they want to do is reach at a position of need when the pool has already been picked clean. After all, we saw them operate that way last year. They pivoted to tight end after the left tackles were pillaged. Then they continually had to avoid taking a running back because other teams kept getting there first. There is also the fact that they feel the depth of this edge class will allow them to grab somebody later. Former Jets and Dolphins general manager Mike Tannenbaum illustrated this with a recent comment on ESPN.com.

The players I’d be targeting in Round 3

Malachi Lawrence, Edge, UCF

A four-year player at UCF, Lawrence has a really good motor and posted solid production with 20 career sacks. Plus, he had a fantastic workout in Indianapolis, running a 4.52-second 40-yard dash at 6-foot-4 and 253 pounds. Anytime I can add a productive, high-motor pass rusher with production, I’m in.

The Chicago Bears’ options later on could be pretty good.

Malachi Lawrence is quietly one of the better pass rushers in this class. He isn’t getting as much attention as he probably should. That might be because he plays at UCF and also doesn’t have a strong reputation as a run defender. Whatever the reason, Tannenbaum believes he could fall to the 3rd round. That is great news for the Bears, as they have two 2nd-round picks. If they planned to, say, reserve one for an edge rusher, there is a strong possibility they could land Lawrence with one of them.

It also means there is a reasonable chance that the edge options in the 2nd round might be better than people are letting on. Perhaps the gulf between someone selected 25th overall in this class and someone picked 60th isn’t as large as we think. Experts have insisted for several weeks that this edge rusher class is one of the deepest in the draft. If the Bears were comfortable with waiting to address any position on their roster until the second day, this would be the safest one to gamble on.

The Bears will not be slaves to needs.

That is the message they’ve conveyed for over a year now. Coach Johnson said his primary goal is to draft good football players. He doesn’t care what position they play. Just get the best talent possible onto the roster, and the coaches will figure the rest out later. That is what he gets paid for. Nobody saw them going tight end and wide receiver with their first two picks last year. It would be wise not to assume edge rusher is the obvious outcome with that 25th overall pick next month.

Current projections have as many as five pass rushers going into the 24 picks ahead of the Chicago Bears. As deep as the position is, it’s hard to imagine the sixth option at edge would be better than maybe the second, third, or fourth option at other positions. Poles is keep all the possibilities on the table for this team. The Bears will select an edge rusher at some point. It’s almost guaranteed. The key will be when the board allows them to do so. Not before.