The Chicago Bears made so many upgrades across the roster in free agency and via the trade market, what the team might end up doing with the No. 10 pick in the NFL draft has become considerably harder to say.
Initially, offensive line help made the most sense — and perhaps it still does. But after trading for two new offensive guards and signing a center, the only feasible need is at left tackle. Chicago also added a pass rusher and a defensive tackle in the early days of free agency, which mitigates what was an obvious need off the edge heading into the offseason.
The moves the Bears made, along with new head coach Ben Johnson’s history with the Detroit Lions and their two-headed running back attack of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs, point to Chicago potentially getting in the mix for star running back Ashton Jeanty out of Boise State.
The biggest obstacle to the Bears landing Jeanty is probably the Las Vegas Raiders, who hold the No. 6 overall pick. The franchise needed a QB, but traded with the Seattle Seahawks for Geno Smith. Because of that, most analysts believe the Raiders will either look at wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan out of Arizona or Jeanty in that spot.
Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN in his mock draft 2.0 on February 25 projected the Raiders to select Jeanty at No. 6 and McMillan to come off the board at No. 22 to the Los Angeles Chargers, albeit as the first wideout and second pass-catcher taken in the draft. For McMillan to move up and challenge Jeanty for the Raiders’ attentions, the receiver needed to have a huge pro day on Monday, March 17, but fell a bit shy of that in at least one meaningful way.
Bears Need Raiders to Fall in Love With Tetairoa McMillan
GettyArizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan.
Gene Chamberlain of ON SI noted that McMillan ran a composite 40-yard dash time of just over 4.55 seconds across three attempts. McMillan’s size is one of his best attributes and combined with that level of speed, he still easily grades out as a first rounder.
However, it wasn’t the kind of measurement that is necessarily going to blow teams away and elevate the Arizona product all the way into the top-10. As such, Chamberlain framed McMillan’s performance as “bad news” for the Bears, as they will now likely need to surrender an asset in order to leapfrog the Raiders if they hope to draft Jeanty.
“The Raiders are thought to be debating wide receiver or Jeanty in Round 1,” Chamberlain wrote. “The only way the Bears could get Jeanty, if the Raiders really do want him, is if they traded up from No. 10 and gave away a draft pick to get him at Nos. 4 or 5.”
Bears Have Necessary Draft Capital to Trade Up for Ashton Jeanty
GettyBoise State running back Ashton Jeanty.
Chicago has the draft capital to make the leap if the team wants Jeanty badly enough.
The Bears own the Nos. 39 and 41 picks in the early portion of the second round and may be able to convince a team like the New England Patriots at No. 4 or the Jacksonville Jaguars at No. 5 to move back a handful of spots for an extra bite at the apple roughly 30 selections later.
Should that happen, Jeanty would pair with running back D’Andre Swift, who the Bears signed to a three-year deal worth $24 million total last offseason.
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