Want to Know Who the Chicago Bears Draft? Follow This Trail

The Chicago Bears draft plans seem to be fairly set in place according to most. Experts aren’t talking about them much. Partly because they don’t have a lot of need and partly because they have no 1st or 2nd round picks. However, time has proven a big help to unraveling how this team approaches the draft process. In particular their mastery of misdirection, keeping people guessing as to their true intentions.

Most people jump at shadows in regards to the Bears meeting certain prospects whether it’s at the Senior Bowl, the combine, or a pro day. None of those tell the truth of the matter. If you wish to know the players that Pace and this team are actually serious about drafting, then it’s all about one thing.

The private meetings.

Don’t believe it? Last year in the 2018 draft the Bears took Roquan Smith, James Daniels, and Anthony Miller with their first three picks. Know what all three had in common? Yep. They met with the Bears privately. It was the same the year before. Mitch Trubisky and Tarik Cohen? Private meetings. In 2016? Leonard Floyd and Cody Whitehair had private visits.

This knowledge paints a clear picture and may allow us to extrapolate the likely prospects they’re considering for the 87th pick of the draft next month.

Chicago Bears draft focus is heavily aimed in one direction

There is still a month to go before the draft begins in late April. It’s likely more reported visits will emerge, but for the time being it’s known that the Bears have privately met and worked out a total of seven prospects. Odds are it’s likely more. Remember that teams are allowed 30 such visits. So there is probably a few that haven’t been reported.

That said, the list of prospects known paints a fairly conclusive picture of what may end up happening when the Bears finally go on the clock.

• Miles Sanders (RB, Penn State)
• Trayveon Williams (RB, Texas A&M)
• Devin Singletary (RB, FAU)
• Mike Weber (RB, Ohio State)
• Ryquell Armstead (RB, Temple)
• L.J. Collier (DE, TCU)
• Jimmy Moreland (DB, James Madison)

It’s no secret by now that the Bears may be angling for a change at running back. Jordan Howard didn’t have a bad year in 2018, but it was clear enough that his skill set doesn’t fit the Matt Nagy offense as well as hoped. The head coach isn’t dead set on getting rid of him, but it’s apparent by these visits that he is motivated to find “his guy.”

That doesn’t automatically mean the Bears will draft a running back at #87. The board is unpredictable after all. However, this does offer a strong indication that one of those young men is going to play for Chicago before the festivities conclude next month. As more private visits emerge, the picture will only become clearer about what they plan to do.