Rumors are always at their hottest right before the NFL draft. It is when teams are doing everything possible to flood the airwaves with misinformation while trying to protect their secret plans. Some are true. Others aren’t. Sifting through them to find the truth is one of football fans’ great joys (and miseries). That includes the Chicago Bears, who have been deluged with buzz over the past 24 hours. Nothing has gained more steam in that time than the belief that they are trying to move up from #10 overall to grab running back Ashton Jeanty.
It isn’t a secret that the Bears love the Boise State star. According to every expert, he’s the best runner in this class. Most see him as another potential LaDainian Tomlinson who can define an offense with his sheer presence. Still, trading up for a running back feels unnecessary in a class that is stacked at the position. Why would the Bears do it? Bill Zimmerman of Windy City Gridiron provided the answer.
I feel like the smoke here has to be from an actual fire. “Ben Johnson is smitten” is something that’s circulated in the league. People from every angle feel the Bears’ interest in Jeanty is genuine.
It appears the Bears’ new head coach is the driving voice in this push for Jeanty, which is no surprise. His offense is built on a dominant ground attack. The idea of putting a player of that ability in such a system must induce all sorts of tantalizing visions.
The cost to get Ashton Jeanty will determine the outcome.
Normally, a team jumping from the 10-12 range into the top 5 costs a future 1st round pick and extra. If that is the case, it would be hard for the Bears to justify such a move for a running back. However, Zimmerman stated that the cost might be lower this year because of a few factors: no top quarterback prospects, a general lack of star power, and several teams wanting to trade down. He believes a trade with a team like Jacksonville at #5 would look like this.
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The cost to move up to 5 would be in the ballpark of:
Jags send: 5 and 107
Bears send: 10 and 41
Chicago would basically swap their lower 2nd round pick for Jacksonville’s 4th round pick. The Bears would still have seven picks total in the draft. It doesn’t force them to sacrifice any picks in the future. They get Ashton Jeanty and still have high 2nd and 3rd round picks to continue building the roster at other positions. Whether it plays out that way remains to be seen.
