The Chicago Bears are one of the bigger mysteries of this 2019 draft period. That’s probably because nobody is paying much attention to them. They have no 1st or 2nd round picks. So they won’t be where the real action is this year. Still, they will be active later in the draft.
So people are curious about how this thing will play out. Will they move up? Will they move down? Will GM Ryan Pace focus on offense or defense? At last after months of waiting, the NFL helped provide what they feel will be the answer in the next few days.
Full NFL mock draft doesn’t deliver for Chicago Bears
Chad Reuter of NFL.com unveiled a full 7-round mock draft with less than a week to go before the action on April 25th. This marked the first time that the Bears got seriously in on the fun. So how did things play out for them? Take a look.
3rd Round – Justin Hollins, EDGE, Oregon
4th Round – Alexander Mattison, RB, Boise State
5th Round – Drew Forbes, OG, Southeast Missouri State
7th Round (via PHI) – Austin Seibert, K, Oklahoma
7th Round – Mark Fields, CB, Clemson
Obviously, it’s tough to predict how a draft class will actually turn out, so any reaction is opinion-based. All things considered based on needs and who was available at each pick?
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The Bears blew this one.
Hollins was compared to Leonard Floyd by Reuter. That’s fair. He’s long, athletic and was decidedly average as a pass rusher at Oregon, never topping 6.5 sacks. He’s a project player with upside.
Mattison is the best pickup of those selections. He’s not special in any way but he’s solid in most. He can run with power and quickness, has good vision, can catch the ball out of the backfield, and is a willing blocker.
Forbes is a small school prospect with decent size and strength who feasted on lesser competition. He has a nastiness about him which is good, but it’s hard to know how he’ll handle a massive jump in competition.
Seibert is a good pick. The Bears obviously need help at kicker and he was one of the best in college football this past year. He connected on 89.5% of his kicks (17-of-19) and has enough leg to be effective from beyond 50 yards.
Fields certainly has experienced on his side. He was part of two national championship-winning defenses at Clemson. He has decent size and lots of speed. What he doesn’t have are ball skills. Only one interception.
All told? Nothing really stands out about this group. They found a solid running back and a hopefully good kicker. Outside of that it’s a bunch of athletes who haven’t proven they can execute at a high level.
