It's no secret what the Chicago Bears are planning to do with the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft anymore. The Bears have all but decided on selecting Caleb Williams with the top pick in the draft and the attention is now switching to the team's next draft selection in the first round.
The Bears' second selection in the Top-10 of the draft at the ninth overall pick has always been more intriguing than what the Bears planned to do at one.
No one has any idea what the Bears will be looking to do with their second first round pick and after hearing from the team's general manager and head coach this week, it seems like they don’t have a clear idea yet either.
The ninth overall pick of course will be filled with more variables than the Bears' options with the first overall pick. With the first pick, the Bears can draft whichever prospect they like best but with the ninth overall pick, they'll have to rely on what the board gives them by the time they are back on the clock.
There will be seven teams selecting between the Bears' two top selections and there seems to be no consensus on how any of those picks will go a month from now. Within those seven picks, three quarterbacks, three wide receivers, two offensive tackles, and potentially two defensive linemen could come off the board in any order.
Luckily, the Bears' front office has approached the offseason in the correct way through free agency to best position the team in the ideal spot with the ninth overall pick to select a top prospect without having to rely on filling a certain position.
"Obviously having the #9 overall pick is a really good spot to be in," Eberflus said on Tuesday. "It's right there at the top and we're going to get a blue [chip] player right there, for sure. What we've done in free agency allows us to be flexible there to be able to take the best player that we feel fits for us in that spot."
As for which prospects the Bears are planning to consider, the team's top two decision makers revealed a little inside details about how the organization plans to assess the potential prospects that could be available with the ninth overall pick.
Bears will break into multiple teams to decide what position to target
Once the Bears get back to Chicago following their Pro Day circuit that will continue throughout the rest of the week, the full attention will go towards building the draft board for what prospects the team plans on targeting.
That will include conducting Top-30 visits that are expected begin at the start of April and an interesting approach for how the team will determine which prospect to select with the ninth overall pick.
"We have different tiers on our draft board. I like the numbers in terms of the talented players that can get to nine," Poles said. "We’re gonna do some cool things when we get back, kinda break into teams. One team is going to talk about the tackle position is the best to go after; the wide receiver’s the best; the defensive end’s the best. And use factual information to kinda spit that out, and we’ll have a debate in terms of what’s more impactful for our football team, short-term and long-term."
By saying this, the team's general manager slightly revealed his team's plans regarding which positions he's looking to consider but he's still remaining flexible with his approach. By splitting into those three teams, the Bears can get a more rounded evaluation regarding not only which need is more important but also which position is deep enough to potentially pass on in the first round.
"It's going to be good to be able to break into that and see guy's opinions," Eberflus explained. "In order to have good communication, it's got to be authentic and it's got to be true. You gotta be able to speak your opinion."
On paper, it seems like a great approach and shows that the Bears executives are willing to get input from multiple voices within the organization before making a decision. However, there's another caveat to the Bears' options with the ninth overall pick. Will the team actually even be selecting a player with that pick in the draft?
Will the Bears stay at #9 or look to trade back?
Depending on how the board falls with the first eight selections and what kind of offer the Bears receive from another team, it's not a guarantee the Bears will keep the ninth overall pick by the time April's draft rolls around.
The Bears are set to enter into the 2024 NFL Draft with only four selections, total. The team will have the 1st overall pick, the 9th overall pick, the 75th overall pick and the 122nd overall pick. That's it.
However, the Bears' general manager doesn’t seem to be worried about the lack of selections in this year's draft specifically and everything seems to be going exactly how he wants it to go.
"If we don’t move at all, I think that’s 25 picks in three years which is over 8 (per year) and some change," Poles explained. "I like where we’re at there on top of being set up next year to have a pretty good setup as well. I think it matches the draft. I think a lot of guys went back to school this year, I think you’re going to see a significant drop-off. Hopefully some guys squeak through, but it actually, the way we’re set up in the draft this year actually pairs up really well with how I think it’s going to play out."
That mindset still doesn’t rule out the possibility of the Bears trading out of the pick and moving back in the first round if the right offer comes their way.
"That will kinda play out," Poles said about potentially trading back from the ninth overall pick. "We’ll see what the numbers look like and that’ll kinda dictate how far we can move back if we decide to do that."
There's still a lot of decisions to be made ahead of the first day of the draft for the Bears despite everything looking all buttoned up at this point with the first overall pick. Still, everything seems to be under control with how the Bears plan to attack the draft to still come away with their ideal draft targets.
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