The problem with reality is it interferes with fantasy.
Bears minicamp the last three days shifted focus away from the pretend world of mock drafts but now that the Bears have left Halas Hall again until later next month and OTAs, fake drafts can consume the imagination of everyone. Well, it can happen until next week when the cold, cruel world of reality intersects with the draft and teams actually make selections.
Three recent or brand new mocks produced a wide range of picks for the Bears but the one deserving the most attention is from Chad Reuter and NFL.com since he went all the way and did the entire draft, all seven rounds.
The very first pick might delight plenty of Bears fans and perhaps even GM Ryan Poles, who had this player in for a top-30 visit to Halas Hall.
Chad Reuter's Full 7
At 39 Reuter had the Bears select a falling Treylon Burks, the wide receiver from Arkansas who is compared by some to Deebo Samuel and others to Laviska Shenault.' Burks' stock seems to be falling in some of the recent mock drafts, though there has been no adequate explanation fiven for this.
Reuter had the Bears pass on tackle Tyler Smith of Tulsa, defensive lineman Logan Hall from Houston and USC edge rusher Drake Jackson to make this pick so he had better deliver.
There was no need to draft Jackson because they selected Penn State edge rusher Arnold Ebiketieof with their 48th pick, a player they've had no known link to in this predraft process.
The third pick as a more realistic and needed slection, cornerback Tariq Woolen of Texas-San Antonio. At No. 71, a player with ridiculous 4.26-second combine 40 speed at cornerback, is greatly needed in the Bears secondary. Reuter did have the Bears pass on defensive tackle DeMarvin Leal of Texas A&M to make this selection, and they could have used the defensive line help.
The rest of the draft was Toledo safety Tycen Anderson at No. 148, UTSA guard Spencer Burford at No. 150 and Va Tech guard Lecitus Smith at 186 in Round 6.
The biggest problem with this draft is the way Reuter had the Bears ignore the offensive line until the end.
One realistic situation occurred in this and that is how costly the gap between No. 71 and No. 148 will be for the Bears. Numerous effective offensive linemen went off the board then, including one they had visit Halas Hall, Chattanooga's tough guy Cole Strange.
Poles better trade down to plug that gap between 71 and 148.
Tag-Team Operation
ESPN's draft gurus Mel Kiper and Todd McShay like to do a team-up every year in the draft run up and this was it, a three-round tag-team affair. They only have to work half as hard this way.
For the Bears, their efforts were completely underwhelming.
At No. 39, McShay saw the Bears drafting Texas A&M guard Kenyon Green, a player who seems built more for inside zone blocking at 6-4, 323 and with a 5.24-second 40-yard dash. The new Bears wide zone scheme is more suited to lighter, more athletic blockers.
But the important thing here to McShay was Green is No. 27 on his draft board so the Bears got a steal.
At No. 48 the ESPN combo did have them making a worthwhile selection, although one more suited to being taken late in Round 2. Florida cornerback Kaiir Elam was the pick here by Kiper who alerted everyone to the fact the Bears' "...pass defense was awful last season—they allowed 31 touchdown passes—and they need someone on the other side of Jaylon Johnson."
Not enough people recognize this, perhaps because they were fooled by the No. 3 rank the Bears had against the pass—a number inflated greatly by the fact everyone ran against them and didn't throw at them.
The other good thing about the pick was it wasn't Fred McCreary, who many mocks have pointed for Chicago. His arms are too short for the outside and their biggest need is outside.
The 71st pick for the Bears was a unique one, never yet sent to them in a major online mock. That was Kentucky defensive end Josh Paschal, who never made more than five sacks in a season but did make 35 1/2 total tackles for loss. A very athletic edge, although he is but 6-3, he had a vertical leap like a cornerback at 37 1/2 inches.
Noting the small total of sacks to games played by Paschal, McShay noted pass rushing is not a strength.
"But Paschal could make an instant impact, too, especially defending the run off the edge," McShay wrote.
Consolation Prizes
The NFL Draft Bible's Jack Borowsky logged in with a two-round midweek mock to land the Bears consolation prizes.
The NFLDB mock has Cincinnati wide receiver Alec Pierce going to the Packers in Round 1 at 22, a move that would be a total shock because Pierce has generally regarded on most boards as a second- or third-rounder. He had Chris Olave drafted by the Patriots at 21 just ahead of Pierce, and the Bears settled instead for Western Michigan slot receiver Skyy Moore at No. 39. He had Treylon Burks coming off the board two picks ahead of the Bears.
Selecting less desirable players remained the theme at No. 48, where the Bears came up with an unusual name in this process. Clemson cornerback Andrew Booth was the call. The 6-foot, 195-pounder made five interceptions and nine pass breakups and is a solid player, but not one many mocks have associated with Chicago.
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