The Chicago Bears draft approach will have to be decidedly less hyped up this year. Such is the price paid of trading away your 1st and 2nd round picks. Granted, nobody will cry about. Khalil Mack is a superstar and Anthony Miller looks as if he’ll be really good as well. Safe to say GM Ryan Pace is good with that. Still, that doesn’t mean he has any less of a job to do.
The five remaining picks the Bears do have only gain further importance now. This is why he and his scouts have remained hard at work scouring the college landscape for players who fit what they like. Sure the odds of them landing a star are lower, but then again that hasn’t stopped Pace before. See Eddie Jackson.
This team has navigated the mid and later rounds well before. There’s no reason to think they can’t again. It’s all about finding the right talent. To that end they’ve been furiously traveling across the country meeting with prospects they’re intrigued by. Here is an update on some of the names who have surfaced.
Florida Atlantic running back Devin Singletary has caught the Bears' curiosity. https://t.co/DtMgbQUtfD
— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) March 19, 2019
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Temple RB Ryquell Armstead has a private workout scheduled with the Chicago Bears.
— NFL Draft Bible (@NFLDraftBible) March 18, 2019
Northern Iowa Edge/OLB Rickey Neal will participate in the #Chicago #Bears local day on April 12th
— Austin Pfenninger (@apfenny) March 18, 2019
Running backs and pass rushers keep dominating Chicago Bears draft meetings
It’s rather clear at this point the focus of the Bears has been on two areas in running back and edge rusher. This isn’t a surprise at all. The rumors around the team wanting to replace Jordan Howard go back over a year. Thus far they haven’t found somebody they view as a serious replacement. It hasn’t stopped them from looking though.
Aside from having a tremendous last name, Devin Singletary was quite the stat machine at Florida Atlantic. In three years he amassed 4,684 yards from scrimmage and scored 67 touchdowns. He is known for his agility, quickness, and versatility. Though he does have concerns regarding his 5’7 size.
Ryquell Armstead has been one of the pleasant surprises over the past two months. He was a rugged, tough back for Temple over three years. He topped 1,000 yards rushing in 2018 despite only playing 10 games. Then he delivered a strong Senior Bowl performance followed by a better-than-expect series of times during the scouting combine.
The biggest mystery of the group is Rickey Neal. Coming from Northern Iowa he isn’t getting near the media attention as other schools. At 6’2, 240 lbs he has the look of an outside linebacker who had 9.5 sacks in 2017 but was a bit quieter last year, managing just 4.5. He has some athletic talent but looks like a possible undrafted option for the Bears.
