2018 Daily Norseman Community Mock Draft: Chicago Bears, Pick #8

The previous selection in our 2018 Daily Norseman Community Mock Draft was a bit of a blowout, as the votes came in early and often for Minkah Fitzpatrick. He’s now a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. . .well, at least in our scenario, he is.

Cleveland Browns - Sam Darnold, QB, USC

New York Giants - Saquon Barkley, RB, Penn State

New York Jets (from Indianapolis Colts) - Josh Rosen, QB, UCLA

Cleveland Browns - Bradley Chubb, DE, North Carolina State

Denver Broncos - Quenton Nelson, G, Notre Dame

Indianapolis Colts (from New York Jets) - Tremaine Edwards, LB, Virginia Tech

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Minkah Fitzpatrick, DB, Alabama

Now, we have the first of the Minnesota Vikings’ three NFC North rivals, the Chicago Bears. The Bears had another rough go of things in 2017, and as a result will have a new head coach on their sidelines, as they lured Matt Nagy away from the Kansas City Chiefs to replace John Fox. Let’s take a look at where they stand.

Chicago Bears

2017 record: 5-11 (4th place, NFC North)

Offseason acquisitions

QB Tyler Bray (free agent signing), TE Trey Burton (free agent signing), QB Chase Daniel (free agent signing), WR Taylor Gabriel (free agent signing), LB Aaron Lynch (free agent signing), K Cody Parkey (free agent signing), WR Allen Robinson (free agent signing)

Offseason losses

OL Tom Compton (signed with Minnesota), LB Jerrell Freeman (free agent), QB Mike Glennon (signed with Arizona), LB Christian Jones (signed with Detroit), G Josh Sitton (signed with Miami), K Cairo Santos (signed with New York Jets), DT Mitch Unrein (signed with Tampa Bay), WR Markus Wheaton (free agent), WR Kendall Wright (signed with Minnesota)

Team needs

Cornerback - Yes, the Bears brought back both of their starting corners from last year in Kyle Fuller and Prince Amukamara. However, they find themselves in a division with three outstanding starting quarterbacks, and therefore could use some more depth at the position.

Edge rusher - Leonard Floyd has been an outstanding find for the Bears on the outside, but the team could use a couple of pieces around him to make their pass rush even better. With the Bears playing a 3-4 now, they need a guy at that spot that can both get after the quarterback and occasionally drop into coverage.

Inside linebacker - The Bears don’t offer a lot of depth at the inside linebacker spot, as Jerrell Freeman first got injured for the season, and then got hit with a 10-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy (he’ll serve the final two games to start the 2018 season). As they continue to build up the defense, they could use someone at that spot to give them an infusion of talent.

Offensive line - The Bears lost guard Josh Sitton this offseason, and though he was getting up in years, he was still performing at a pretty high level. They also have Bobby Massie at right tackle, and he underperformed a bit for the Bears this past season. The Bears could look to fix either of those spots at this position.

Options

Marcus Davenport, DE, Texas-San Antonio - Davenport is a player that is definitely going to need some time to develop, as he played his college ball at a smaller school. Still, he has as much physical talent as any other defensive end in this year’s draft. He mostly played standing up during his time at UT-SA, and so he could function as an outside linebacker in the Bears’ 3-4 scheme.

Mike McGlinchey, OT, Notre Dame - McGlinchey would almost certainly step in immediately at right tackle for the Bears, as Charles Leno appears to have a hold on the left tackle position. McGlinchey is probably the best pure offensive tackle in this class, but this still might be a little too high for him.

Calvin Ridley, WR, Alabama - Yes, the Bears brought in Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel to help surround Mitchell “Don’t you dare call me Mitch” Trubisky with weapons. However, Robinson is coming off of an injury and Gabriel seems like more of a gadget player, so they still need more at the position. Ridley is, by most accounts, the highest-rated wide receiver in this class, and his ability in the slot would give Trubisky another nice weapon to use.

Roquan Smith, LB, Georgia - The Bears need some help at the middle linebacker position, and Smith is the best one still remaining on the board. He’s undersized for an inside linebacker, but he does have the ability to make plays all over the field.

Denzel Ward, CB, Ohio State - Ward is likely the best pure corner in this year’s class. He’s a bit undersized, but with the Bears bringing back Fuller and Amukamara on the outside, he would probably be asked to move into the slot, and he could be very good there almost immediately.

That’s what we’ve got for the Bears, folks. Coming up tomorrow, one of the “hot” teams in the NFL right now, the San Francisco 49ers, who won a coin flip with the Oakland Raiders to give them the 9th overall pick in this year’s draft.