I've found myself looking at what I'd do in a Bears mock draft after they cut Kyle Fuller today. Chicago has other veterans that are significantly worse than Fuller, so I'm doing this mock under the pretense that by cutting Fuller, they will also cut RT Bobby Massie, LT Charles Leno JR, TE Jimmy Graham, and DT Akiem Hicks. Positional needs are looking like QB, WR2, DB2, SS, Interior D-Line, Interior O-Line, and 3rd down RB that isn't Cohen. I'm also assuming that somehow Nick Foles disappears in some sort of trade that also disposes of WR Anthony Miller.
I'm not going to propose any trades. It's just going to be what the Bears currently have for draft capital.
ROUND 1 PICK 20:
Mac Jones, QB - Alabama
If Jones isn't here at 20, then I think Ryan Pace and company should just start to pack their bags. I'm taking Jones here under the assumption that Trey Lance has already been drafted. This is a spot that it's possible the Bears could trade back a few picks and still get Jones. The Saints are lurking in the late 20's and also need a QB. I'm really not considering a cornerback here. It's QB or trade down and accumulate more picks.
ROUND 2 PICK 52:
Creed Humphrey, C/G - Oklahoma
I've seen spots where the Bears are taking a tackle in round one. I'm not trying to protect Andy Dalton, sorry. Mac Jones I'm trying to protect. Russell Wilson I'm trying to protect. Andy Dalton, no. With that Bears need WR2. Maybe Rondale Moore from Purdue would be available here. Drafting a WR in Round 2 seems a year early in this team's building process. With a rookie QB, it's best to not have him get crushed. Humphrey could be the best center in the draft. Extremely athletic. It's possible he could slip into the end of the 1st round. Drafting Humphrey instantly improves the Bears interior line. Cody Whitehair can slip back to LG from C. Whitehair is an average to below average center, but an all-pro caliber guard. That would leave James Daniels and Germain Ifedi to split time at RG.
ROUND 3 PICK 83:
Walker Little, T - Stanford
or
Spencer Brown, T - Northern Iowa
This is why I would love to pick up an extra 3rd from trading back a few spots to get Mac Jones. Under my proposed off-season cuts, we are ridding our team of a slew of holding and false start penalties by cutting Bobby Massie & Charles Leno Jr. Not to mention we are saving roughly, 13 million. (Maybe we didn't need to cut Kyle Fuller!) Little had a 1st round grade going into 2019. Tore an ACL, then opted out of 2020. He's a perfect target to fill a tackle spot. Brown's from a small school, which the Bears tend to like to target in rounds 2 and 3. Brown is a beast. Little or Brown. Little AND Brown. Make it happen Chicago. Adding Humphrey and one or both of these tackles sets up the Chicago O-Line for either Mac Jones in 2022 or a different rookie QB. Either way, Chicago needs to build the foundation first before getting luxury pieces like WRs or TEs.
ROUND 5 PICK 164:
Darius Stills, DT - West Virginia
Going to be a lot of defense going forward. As of doing this, I'm assuming Akiem Hicks is as good as gone. We also lost DE Roy Robertson-Harris who was a really really good football player in our system. Good signing by the Jags. We extended DE Mario Edwards Jr. Stills is an athletic, but smaller DT. 6'1 284. He'll have to add some beef to not get pushed around but he has the meanness for the position that Hicks had.
ROUND 6 PICK 202:
Tamorrion Terry, WR - Florida State
We're going to start throwing a few darts at WR late. 6'4 220, Terry has tons of upside. he guy is fast for his size. He's not a physical receiver yet, but as he gets stronger he could be. At this point, we're just filling out WR dart throws. I'm hoping we addressed WR2 through free agency. We have Mooney at WR3. Hopefully Anthony Miller gets traded. Javon Wims and Riley Ridley, hopefully cut.
ROUND 6 PICK 219:
Anthony Schwartz, WR - Auburn
He had a 4.26 40 time at his pro time. He's available at Round 6? Sure good enough, bring him on. Adding another burner WR to go with Mooney and RB Tarik Cohen sounds fine to me. Another option at this spot could be WR Jonathan Adams Jr from Arkansas State. Solid high point guy that can work the outside. Drops a lot of balls though.
ROUND 6 PICK 226:
Tay Gowan, CB - UCF
This is our moderate attempt to fill the CB2 slot that is now open on the roster. Jaylon Johnson will be the CB1. More than likely we will sign a veteran for CB2. We cut Buster Skrine and haven't resigned Artie Burns. Gowan opted out last year. 6'2, 185, 4.3 speed. Sure why not. Opting out of 2020 has lowered his draft stock quite a bit, so he could be a nice late steal for the Bears. Bryan Mills from UNC Central could also be an option here for CB.
ROUND 7 PICK 230:
Milton Williams, DT - Louisiana Tech
We're going to nab another developmental DT here. 6'4 280 lb. He's slightly more in the mold of Hicks than earlier drafted Stills. Losing Hicks and Robertson-Harris we need some more big smashers on the inside.
A couple of takeaways:
*Cutting Kyle Fuller was the wrong move. We have too many other issues than to create another major hole that needs addressed. Disposing of Leno, Massie, and Graham gets us closer to where we need to be cap-wise than tossing Fuller away does. Fuller was already in the last year of his contract. Addressing the new hole at CB early in this draft puts the Bears further behind in what they need to actually fix.
*I like what we've done at interior D-Line. This doesn't replace Hicks at all, but it almost does. Hicks has had a lot of injuries the past few years so he isn't guaranteed to be on the field.
*Throwing 2 to 3 picks at O-Line gets the Bears a lot closer to finally moving that unit from being below average. Getting Whitehair at his proper position is almost like acquiring an all-pro free agent. We might actually have to offense be able to move drives instead of them being perpetually derailed by false starts and holds from Massie & Leno.
*I didn't really consider any RBs. We still have David Montgomery and have Tarik Cohen signed to a massive contract. The best bet for depth here is to go out and add someone like Mike Davis or Philip Lindsay.
*With the addition of Mac Jones, I think Pace & Nagy probably buy themselves at least 1 more year by redshirting him most of the year. If Jones comes out and looks like butt, the media will be ready to pounce on Pace & Nagy.
to Krankor. I just don't see the 1st Round hype on Kellen Mond and still don't see "IT" related to him at all.
