There are many, many instances of NFL players never once having met with the team that eventually drafted them. The Chicago Bears are no different. However, such was not the case with Kiran Amegadjie. The Bears selected him 75th overall in the 3rd round this past April. A Hinsdale native, the Yale offensive tackle felt like a surprise to fans. It was the complete opposite for him. He had manifested that moment over a year ago when he and Matt Eberflus met by chance for the first time.
Amegadjie frequented Kemper Lakes Golf Club with his father growing up. One day last summer, Eberflus showed up at the club to play 18 holes. Amegadjie’s father was there by happenstance and gave his son a call. The rookie explained how things unfolded from there on Meet The Rookies from the Bears’ YouTube channel.
Driving 40 minutes to get a chance to meet the head coach of your favorite team sounds relatable for Bears fans. Yet Amegadjie took it a step further by stating his heartfelt belief they would draft him. It’s made all the crazier by the fact that he didn’t play most of last season because of a quad injury. Sometimes, things work out as they should.
Kiran Amegadjie had all the qualities the Bears look for.
He’s big, long, athletic, and known for being mean between the whistles. Scouts and coaches who watched him also widely lauded his work ethic. The only thing Eberflus and GM Ryan Poles needed was faith that he would recover from his injury and be ready for training camp. It appears they don’t have to worry about that. All signs point to the rookie being healthy. Poles believes he should be able to compete for the primary backup tackle spot right away. If things go as planned, there is optimism he could challenge Braxton Jones for the left tackle job by next year.
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However, it’s worth noting that Kiran Amegadjie isn’t limited to one position. He played guard in college, too. Some experts think there is a chance he could challenge Nate Davis or Teven Jenkins for one of those spots, especially if the two starters continue struggling to stay healthy. Either way, the Bears seem wide open to giving him the necessary opportunities to compete. If he ends up finding success, that story between him and Eberflus will become part of franchise folklore.
“Nate Davis departs Tennessee Titans, signs with Chicago Bears
Tennessee has officially lost their starting right guard. What now?
. . . .Davis made a career-low 12 starts in 2022. Davis battled through multiple lower-body injuries and was constantly in and out of the lineup. New Titans general manager Ran Carthon didn’t draft Davis, and he probably didn’t view him as a $10 million annual talent.” — Justin Melo, SBNation (3/13/23)
Ran Carthon couldn’t have known Nate Davis’ work ethic as @TGena would like you to believe. So now you are just making shit up to support your narrative? He was hired by the Titans on Jan 18, 2023 with no previous work experience with the organization. Anything that Carthon knew was second hand from previous coaching staff or members of that team. I do agree with y’all that he is a failed project. He had both mental and physical issues last year with the death of his mother. But, it shouldn’t excuse him showing up out of shape and with… Read more »
Davis came from a system that should have worked with da Bears. They let him keep his RG position. It was an error on Poles part that affected 2 players. This move really hurt Jenkins IMO. I understand that Davis is garbage that needs to be flushed. But the real shame of it is the retardation of Jenkins as a Bear RG that we should have had as a mainstay for 10 years. Now I don’t know if we even keep Jenkins. Shame. It’s a gamble that failed. Personally the only part I hated at the time, was that Jenkins… Read more »
Gena seems to forget the team has a full complement of scouts that cover college and pro players. I seem to remember some of them losing their jobs recently. Maybe it was a pro players scout that backed the signing of Davis. You have no idea how the signing came to be. Yes Poles has the final word on things but he also has to trust his scouting department. Player evaluations are not done exclusively by Poles himself. Poles is not the kind of GM to publicly throw someone under the bus when a player doesn’t work out. Maybe he… Read more »
Gena..the perpetual Poles hater. Nothing he has done, will ever do, will be good enough.
But it’s OK Gena….feel free to jump ship anytime. Because we all know everything you do in life is perfect.