The 2024 NFL Draft will officially kick off late next week with the Chicago Bears making the first overall pick in the draft.
This week, teams are finalizing all of their major remaining in-house visits with various prospects during the final week that visits are allowed to be conducted.
Two more interesting visits have been linked to the Bears at the same position, which could be telling for the team's draft plans. Jacob Infante confirmed over the weekend that the Bears met with Georgia safety Tykee Smith and NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported today that the team will meet with Texas Tech safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson on Tuesday.
The Bears defensive back positions are already well-rounded going into next week's draft, but the amount of visits conducted with prospects at those two position groups could hint toward the front office adding more bodies to the secondary.
General manager Ryan Poles and the Bears' front office have already brought in Kevin Byard, Jonathan Owens, and Tavarius Moore to the secondary that already featured Jaylon Johnson, Jaquan Brisker, Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson, and Terell Smith.
The most intriguing part of these visits is the fact that all of the defensive backs the Bears have hosted for meetings are projected as mid-late round prospects, which means the team could target that area with depth players late in the draft.
Smith and Taylor-Demerson are even more interesting prospects the Bears are keeping tabs on due to their versatility in the secondary. Both players have experience at deep safety and playing in the slot as a nickel. That kind of versatility seems to be important for the team and adding a player who could play in the nickel would be a great depth asset to have behind Gordon at the position.
Smith played 434 of his 630 defensive snaps as a slot corner in 2023, per Pro Football Focus. He ended his final season with four interceptions and 8.5 tackles for a loss. Taylor-Demerson played 202 snaps in the slot, 485 snaps at free safety, and 113 snaps in the box in 2023. He totaled four interceptions and 1.5 tackles for a loss.
Both prospects are exciting players to consider for the Bears if the team wants to add a defensive back capable of playing multiple positions, and each come at different ranges in the draft. Taylor-Demerson is projected to have a 3rd-4th round grade and Smith is projected to have a 4th-5th round grade, per The Athletic's Dane Brugler.
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