We shift the focus of our offseason Chicago Bears’ roundtable | Forum

Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesHorizontal - WhiteWindy City GridironWindy City Gridiron - Being who you thought we were since 2005!Log In or Sign UpLog InSign UpFanpostsFanshotsSectionsBearsOddsAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 322 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Latest NewsThe Bears DenNotesXs and OsSuperfansFiled under:From The Desk Of...Roster AnalysisChicago Bears Draft 2019Who is the one player you want the Bears to draft?New White Kyle Fuller Jerseys ,50commentsWe shift the focus of our offseason Chicago Bears’ roundtable topics to the NFL Draft for these next two questions. CDTShareTweetShareShareWho is the one player you want the Bears to draft?Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY SportsWe’re just two weeks away from the start of the 2019 NFL Draft and if you ask me, the buzz is starting to pick up from Chicago Bears’ fans. While the Bears aren’t scheduled to pick on Thursday, April 25, in the first round, they will finally get on the clock for their third round pick on Friday, April 26. That is unless general manager Ryan Pace moves up the board as he’s done in years past. For today’s roundtable topic, we want to know which player you hope the Bears draft this year. And we’re talking a realistic shot at drafting, so no assumptions that Pace will move up for Nick Bosa or Josh Jacobs. The Bears aren’t picking until the third round, but there are plenty of mid to late round players on the current roster that we can point to when hoping for a good player. So, who will be the next Eddie Jackson (4th round), Tarik Cohen (4th), Bilal Nichols (5th), Jordan Howard (5th), Adrian Amos (5th) or Charles Leno Jr. (7th)?Is there a collegiate player you’ve been watching for a while that you just know will be an impact player for the Bears? Who’s your guy?Josh Sunderbruch - Safety Amani Hooker from Iowa is a safety-backer hybrid with good instincts. There’s a good chance that he’ll fall to where the Bears can get him because he lacks the top-end speed and athleticism, but he can contribute on special teams, he has good awareness, and he has the flexibility for modern NFL defenses. Jacob Infante - It seems to be becoming more unrealistic by the day, but Penn State running back Miles Sanders is a perfect fit for the Bears’ offense and is a top-3 back in this year’s class. He is a back with strength in his frame and good contact balance, but he’s also a nimble runner with very good lateral quickness and acceleration. He has soft hands and is a fluid mover after the catch as a receiver Kyle Fuller Jerseys 2019 , and he has flashed patience and good ball-carrier vision as a runner. He is my top choice for Chicago in Round 3, but I don’t think he’ll be available. Outside of Sanders, I agree with Josh that Iowa safety Amani Hooker would be a slam-dunk selection. He’s the most instinctive safety I’ve watched in this year’s class: he knows exactly when to jump routes and how to read the eyes of the quarterback. He’s a reliable tackler who can line up as a double-high safety, a cornerback, and as a linebacker hybrid in the box, and he tested much better athletically than I expected. Hooker would be a perfect replacement down the line for Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.Erik Christopher Duerrwaechter - Really, it comes down to whomever is the best RB on the board when the Bears are finally on the clock. Miles Sanders is my unquestionable favorite running back in this year’s draft class. However, it’s likely he’s selected by the 2nd round at the latest. Unless the Bears can trade up to land his talents -- which could happen with Ryan Pace’s draft history -- I don’s see this happening. With that in mind, I have a tie between Mike Weber from Ohio State and Wes Hills from Slippery Rock. In Weber, you have a smaller back who runs downhill like a legit hate-machine with the explosiveness Matt Nagy seeks at the position. Plus, he’s a natural receiver out in the backfield, and he’d be the featured back who’s currently missing in the Bears’ offense. In Hills, where he’s not as explosive as Weber, he’s much more powerful and uses his size to his fullest potential in moving the pile. Hills is a more explosive version of Howard who was also productive as a receiver. Bruce Anderson would be a good consolation prize as well. His violence in the ground game would be a welcomed addition to this dynamic Bears offense. Robert Zeglinski - Many are understandably going to focus on running back, but I wouldn’t be too worried about filling in the most replaceable offensive skill position. Running backs do matter, contrary to what the social media hive mind will say, but they only matter a little. No, instead, I think the Bears should attack cornerback with the No. 87 overall pick. At the moment they have 2018 First-Team All-Pro Kyle Fuller White Charles Leno Jerseys , Prince Amukamara on the wrong side of 30 come this June, and no one else reliable on the boundary. Should anything happen to Fuller or Amukamara (the latter of which hasn’t played a 16-game season since 2013) the Bears sit in a dangerous spot with their secondary. Depth at cornerback is like depth at pass rusher or on the offensive line: You can never have enough. Good teams, contending teams have a ready-made arsenal of players they can rely on on the outside. The Bears were fortunate to not be ravaged at cornerback last year, something not likened to continue based on regression. I wasn’t particularly impressed with Kevin Toliver’s rookie season and wouldn’t put too much stock in him as a viable long-term option. There’s a reason he went undrafted out of LSU beyond obvious natural talent. Someone who I think will be available by the time the Bears pick in the third round is Justin Layne. The 6-foot-2, 192 pound product out of Michigan State needs at least a year of polish to become a good starter at the NFL level, but would profile well as the Bears’ No. 3 cornerback. Then, by the time Amukamara’s Bears tenure ends after the 2019 season (he has little guaranteed money come 2020), Layne can readily step in opposite Fuller. There are two traits cornerbacks need to survive as professionals: Ball skills and tackling. Ball skills in the form of finding the ball in the air and making a play on it, not necessarily getting an interception. Tackling in the form of being willing in run support and having the physicality to match it. Where Layne’s run support could use refinement, he’s serviceable there. His ball skills as a player who stays composed when attacked to go with fluid hips need no further elaboration. Layne’s the ideal cornerback for the Bears to have in the developmental pipeline for depth in 2019 and a starting flourish in 2020. EJ Snyder - The way Pace has assembled the Bears roster this draft can absolutely be about 2020. If a talented player falls, even if is he is not ready to contribute this year, Pace can grab him and set Chicago up for the long term. I agree with Robert that CB is greater need than many acknowledge, but it’s a tough year to need a corner. If there’s a even a small run in the early rounds, teams will overdraft players to fill a need. That’s not ideal and Pace can avoid the trap. The other needs on D are an additional rotational EDGE or a safety. Darnell Savage would be my ideal at safety, but he’s boosted his stock to the point the Bears would have to trade up to touch him. That leaves EDGE as a greater positional value. A player like Christian Miller from Alabama might be the ideal intersection of the Bears needs on D and draft value. If the Bears focus on the offense a running back is almost certainly the early choice. My vote would be for Darrell Henderson or Trayveon Williams. Both are exceptionally talented with Henderson being a homerun artist while Williams mixes his explosion with a balanced palate of skills.Lester A. Wiltfong Jr. - For my pick, I’m going in a different direction than my colleagues and I’m going all the way down to the seventh round. With no top picks for the Bears I’m looking for an athletic player that needs to be coached up to reach his full potential. Can you imagine if the coaching staff can unlock the football player inside a 6’5”, 248 pound outside linebacker (EDGE) that ran a 4.5 forty (2nd best at the Combine at his position), with 25 reps on the bench (4th best), a 36.5’ vertical (5th best) Charles Leno Jerseys 2019 , a 9’11” broad jump (7th), a 7.06 3-cone (8th), a 4.40 20-yard shuttle (8th), and an 11.94 60-yard shuttle (3rd)?Make no mistake about it, Oregon’s Justin Hollins is a project, but as a 7th round pick he’ll be able to give you something on special teams while honing his skills as a pass rusher. Working in an NFL strength and conditioning program will benefit him too. And it wasn’t like he didn’t have production in college. His last two seasons playing outside linebacker he racked up 25.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, 2 interceptions, 6 passes defended, and 7 forced fumbles. We see plenty of projects drafted on day three, but give me one with 4.5 speed and we’ll see if the coaches can get his switch to go on. EDIT: Most of the stuff I’ve read about Hollins has him going in the 6th at the absolute earliest, with some having him in the UDFA range, but EJ tells me that he has him much higher on his big board and he’d be fine with the Bears taking him in the 5th round. I defer to EJ’s draft knowledge on this one, so if the Bears can get him earlier I’m good with it! Mitchell Trubisky now stands above all Bears quarterbacks. At least in one category.In a 48-10 win over the Buccaneers, Trubisky today the first Bears QB ever to toss five touchdown passes in one half. He did so in the first half, and added a sixth touchdown early in the third quarter to become the third Bear ever with six passing touchdowns in a game.Trubisky’s touchdowns against Tampa Bay:1st quarter, 39 yards to Trey Burton1st quarter, 14 yards to Allen Robinson2nd quarter, 9 yards to Tarik Cohen 2nd quarter White Bryce Callahan Jerseys , 20 yards to Josh Bellamy2nd quarter, 3 yards to Taylor Gabriel3rd quarter, 3 yards to Taylor GabrielTrubisky joined Sid Luckman and Johnny Lujack as the only Bears with six passing touchdowns in a game. Luckman holds the franchise record with seven in a 56-7 win over the Giants in 1943.Lujack threw six in 1949 in a 52-21 win over the Cardinals. He also set the NFL’s single-game passing record that day with 468 yards, eclipsing Sammy Baugh’s mark of 446. Lujack’s 468 remains the franchise record.These are the only games in which a Bears quarterback tossed six TDs. There are only two other instances in which a Bears QB threw five:Ray Buivid, 1937 against the CardinalsLuckman, in the 1943 NFL championship, which we won 41-21 over WashingtonTrubisky entered today’s game with nine career touchdown passes and 10 career interceptions, with only two passing TDs this season. His previous high in a game was the two he had two weeks ago against the Seahawks. As noted by WCG friend Johnathan Wood, Trubisky’s big day puts him on pace for 3,800 yards and 32 touchdowns. Erik Kramer holds the franchise records in those categories, both set in 1995, with 3,838 yards and 29 touchdowns.Enjoy the bye week, Bears fans. Things are getting good.---Jack M Silverstein is Windy City Gridiron’s Bears historian, and author of “How The GOAT Was Built: 6 Life Lessons From the 1996 Chicago Bulls.” He is the proprietor of Chicago sports history Instagram “A Shot on Ehlo.” Say hey at @readjack.