Bears 2025 7-Round Mock Draft: Ryan Poles makes multiple trades, including a move up in the first-round but not one you'd expect

TRADE

Here's the first-round trade up, but it's not up from 10. The closer we get to the draft, I get the feeling Ryan Poles will look to use some of his other three Top-75 picks to move up and make a second pick on the opening night. Here's the deal:

Bears Receive: 29th overall pick
Commanders Receive: 39th overall pick, 72nd overall pick

29th Overall Pick: Kenneth Grant, DT Michigan

After taking Jeanty at 10, the Bears move back into Round 1 to draft an impact defender after a slight fall. Kenneth Grant is the perfect fit for the Bears defense as a run stuffing interior defender who can rotate as needed.

Moving up for a guy like this would be necessary, even though I mocked him to Chicago with the 39th overall pick last week.

It's unlikely Grant falls out of the Top-32 selections and if the Bears are indeed really high on this guy, there's nothing holding the front office back from making a splash.

41st Overall Pick: Josh Conerly Jr., OT Oregon

As for the lone second-round pick remaining, I considered going with either edge rusher or offensive tackle here. Both positions are in need of top level depth but after adding Grant on defense, I believe Gervon Dexter and Austin Booker would be adequate rotating behind Montez Sweat and Dayo Odeyingbo off the edge.

As for offensive tackle, the Bears want some competition on the left side with Braxton Jones recovering from an ankle injury . Both Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson spoke highly of their trust in Kiran Amegadjie's development, but that shouldn't rule this out.

The Bears brought Josh Conerly in for a Top-30 visit and could feel comfortable adding him to have a reassurance at such a crucial position long-term.

TRADE

That's right, we're going to make another trade going into Day 3. Ryan Poles has made six trades on Day 3 since taking over as the Bears general manager. I pinpointed pick 148 in the fifth-round as a possible trade down spot, a near identical move to what Poles did in 2022 with the same exact trade partner.

Bears Receive: 169th overall pick, 206th overall pick
Bills Receive: 148th overall pick

169th Overall Pick: Clay Webb, IOL Jacksonville State

Ideally, the Bears can stay at 148 and land Dylan Fairchild out of Georgia to add interior OL depth, but every simulation I ran had Fairchild well off the board, which prompted me to trade back and add a sixth-round pick.

Even though I missed out on Fairchild, landing Clay Webb still gives the team a developmental guy at the guard position. At Jacksonville State, Webb produced at a high level in a zone-run heavy offense and should catch on quickly in Chicago.

206th Overall Pick: Jalin Conyers, TE Texas Tech

Speaking of that sixth-round pick, the previous trade puts the Bears in the ideal spot to land the swiss-army knife Ben Johnson is eyeballing for this offense.

Tyler Warren is enticing in the first-round, but passing on him for Jeanty opens the door on adding Jalin Conyers in the sixth-round thanks to the trade back.

This is great value for a guy who can play all over the field and be a mismatch weapon for Johnson to use creatively in his scheme while still playing Cole Kmet.

233rd Overall Pick: Jaylin Lane, WR Virginia Tech

This is all about the offensive fit. The Bears have already met with Jaylin Lane, who was a speedy slot player with great athleticism for Virginia Tech.

A few weeks back, this is the exact type of WR Ben Johnson was looking to add on offense before signing Devin Duvernay to a one-year deal. A guy like Lane might not be used much in 2025, but over time he can grow into a role in the passing game.

240th Overall Pick: Jalen McLeod, LB/DE Auburn

And with the final pick, we're going with the upside and multi-positional ability in a guy like Jalen McLeod. This is the part of the draft where you bank on upside and see what a player can do across different positions.

McLeod showed promise during his college career as a standup linebacker and a pass rusher off the edge. Dennis Allen can toy around with a guy like him over the summer to explore his best fit. Starting in 2025 he'd be an immediate special teams player.