Chicago Sports Stuff Mailbag: The Bears' NFL Draft Wish List
The Monsters of the Midway are on the clock in about eight days. Chicago Sports Stuff is on the clock in about eight seconds.
SO MANY MOCK DRAFTS, so little time.
And when I say “so many,” I damn well mean “so many.”
For the last month, I’ve devised almost 20 NFL mocks for BEARS ON SI, which has taught me exactly nothing.
I still don’t have a concrete idea who the Bears want to draft.
I still don’t have a concrete idea whether Bears GM Ryan Poles will trade his way out of the first round.
I still don’t have a concrete idea if Chicago would prefer to go heavy on offense or defense.
I clearly need a day off from mocking. But I never need a day off from the CSS mailbag. So LFG.
Two questions: Who do you think the Chicago Bears will select in the first round of next week’s NFL Draft? And who do you want the Chicago Bears to select in the first round of the NFL Draft?
-Darius, Chicago
Unless your team owns the top pick, the answers to those two questions likely won’t align.
Spoiler alert: The Chicago Bears don’t own the top pick. So these answers definitely won’t align.
To that, I say, “Alignment, schmalignment, let’s do this.”
WHO I THINK
NFL pundits who’re way more connected than me have sorta-kinda locked in their top-ten picks. And it goes a little something like this:
1) Tennessee Titans
Cam Ward, QB, Miami
2) Cleveland Browns
Travis Hunter, WR/CB, Colorado
3) New York Giants
Abdul Carter, EDGE, Penn State
4) New England Patriots
Will Campbell, OT, LSU
5) Jacksonville Jaguars
Mason Graham, DL, Michigan
6) Los Angeles Raiders
Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
7) New York Jets
Armand Membau, OT, Missouri
8) Carolina Panthers
Jalon Walker, EDGE, Georgia
9) New Orleans Saints
Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado
10) Chicago Bears
Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State
So Tyler Warren it is. And that wouldn’t suck.
Y’see, last season, Chicago’s starting tight end triumvirate of Cole Kmet, Gerald Everett, and Marcedes Lewis combined for 512 receiving yards. For context, 11 tight ends singlehandedly topped or equalled that mark. And the threesome combined for four touchdowns, which was exceeded or tied by twelve TEs.
New head coach / offensive firebrand Ben Johnson — who’s used to having Sam LaPorta at his disposal — won’t stand for that, and will very much be on board with landing the Draft’s consensus top tight end. Yeah, Warren isn’t Brock Bowers…but he might be Zach Ertz, a comp with which both Johnson and quarterback Caleb Williams will be perfectly happy.
WHO I WANT
Problem here is that regardless of who I’m lusting after, there are nine other teams drafting ahead of the Bears who will be ready, willing, and able to mess up my hope and dream of landing running back Ashton Jeanty.
Travis Hunter notwithstanding, Jeanty might end up being the most impactful player from this draft class in 2025 and beyond. He’s a multi-tooled stud who will be a menace in both the run and pass games, although at 5’9”, 216, he might not be your dream blocker out of the backfield. But his video game attack should more than make up for any deficiencies.
Thing is, there’s almost zero chance Jeanty is on the board when the Bears are up at ten, so I’d like to see them trade down, pick up some extra day two draft capital, and bring in North Carolina battering ram Omarion Hampton, a running back who some smarty-pantses have ranked as high, if not higher than Jeanty.
Such a move would require some serious creativity from Poles, something he’s yet to demonstrate on Draft Night. But he had a helluva pre-Draft run in late winter (traded for Pro Bowl OT Joe Thuney and inked top free agent center Drew Dalman, f’r instance), so maybe he’ll carry that mojo into next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.