Official NFL Draft Thread - Bear Fans Only

[bears51/40]

Pro Football Network has a new 7 rounder.

"10) Chicago Bears​

Will Campbell, OT, LSU​

The Chicago Bears revamped the interior of their offensive line in the offseason, but they did not make any upgrades at tackle. That could be viewed as a vote of confidence in Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright from Ben Johnson or an indictment of the offensive tackle talent available in free agency.

The Bears can address the offensive tackle position in the 2025 NFL Draft with Will Campbell, who projects as a potential starting left tackle from Day 1. Campbell would enter training camp as immediate competition for both Jones and Wright. At worst, he will be a high-level backup in 2025 and a succession plan for Jones when he moves on as a free agent next year.

39) Chicago Bears​

Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina​

There’s been plenty of talk about Ben Johnson reshaping the Bears’ running back room. Johnson leaned on a two-back system in Detroit, and Omarion Hampton could fill a similar role in Chicago. Hampton is a three-down back with upside as both a runner and receiver. He could sneak into the first round if a team falls in love with his skill set, but if not, he’s a strong pick early on Day 2.

41) Chicago Bears​

Xavier Watts, S, Notre Dame​

There’s debate over how high safety ranks on the Bears’ priority list, but with Kevin Byard aging and Jaquan Brisker dealing with injuries, adding depth makes sense. Watts has versatility — he can contribute as a slot corner while waiting for a starting safety role to open up.

72) Chicago Bears​

Kyle Kennard, EDGE, South Carolina​

The Bears’ depth chart at EDGE looks top-heavy with Dayo Odeyingbo and Montez Sweat. Behind them, there is certainly room for improvement, both in terms of a rotational role player and a high-level backup to cover either role in case of injury.

Kyle Kennard can disrupt passing games with his skills as a pass rusher. He is more of a speed rusher than a power rusher, and that presents issues against more nimble offensive linemen who can match his movements and shut him down. It also presents an issue against the run, but that is an area he can look to develop once he gets to the NFL and starts working with strength and conditioning coaches.

148) Chicago Bears
Jeffrey Bassa, LB, Oregon

233) Chicago Bears
Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, OT, Florida

240) Chicago Bears
Max Brosmer, QB, Minnesota"

7-Round 2025 NFL Mock Draft With Trades: Steelers, Browns Trade Up for Their QBs of the Future

How does our latest 7-round NFL Mock Draft shape up as we let our MDS user data help guide our selections through all seven rounds?

www.profootballnetwork.com

Hampton is not hitting the second round.

 

[dennehy]

$16M AAV says Dayo is an investment that deserves a year before even thinking about replacing him. Add him to Sweat who is still young & Booker who they traded up for and there is no way to say they haven't put enough into the DE position.

I'm 100% on team Replace Braxton, but not with a guard (Campbell) and possibly not with a LT that is as slow footed as a guard (Banks). That means Membou would be the round 1 target, and everyone knows he might not be there.

The Bears have 3 pro bowl caliber IOL, and a broken scapula on a freak accident doesn't make Jackson injury prone. Funny how Thuney goes from being an All-Pro with plenty of tread on the tire, to suddenly old and on his last legs as soon as he gets to the Bears.

That leaves DT as the only fair option on the DL, I'd be good with Grant at #10 but again the strength of this draft is at DT and they can just as easily grab one at 39 or 41, so there is no trench mandate for #10 in this draft.

Those three DEs combined had 7.5 sacks last year. Booker as the #3 is not really tenable, the #3 guy is probably going to play 40% of snaps minimum, and far more if there is no real #4. They actually have 3 DT who have proven solid track records at the NFL level.

 

[dabears70]

If you mean denial that the Bears playmakers match up in comparison to the top 10 offenses in the NFL,

Take a glance in the mirror.

 

[bears51/40]

Here’s Waddle on some top draft prospects.

I liked their take on Wiliams. All Georgia edge rushers rotate in, so you have to project what the ceiling is. He fits an Allen defense.

 

[bamainatlanta]

Dayo is probably not even considered a top 20 edge. His pay is about 20th, and that's pay from free agency, which is slightly inflated. He's essentially an average starter and was more-so signed out of need than anything else. Not even our own fan base is really excited by him. We all realize what he is. His signing was graded accordingly, average to poor by a lot of pundits. He's proven nothing in the NFL in his 4 years to warrant not having competition for his job.

Jackson has played less games/snaps in the past 3 years than Teven, who we all were tired of for missing time. It's not just one injury. I'm one of the people who didn't come here to say the Jackson trade sucked. I like Jackson and hope he does well. I think he's great if he's healthy. But, I'm not going to pretend there's not risk with his injuries in the last 3 years. I hope he's healthy and stays healthy for a long time. The odds are probably not in his favor. Again, the point is we need to start lining up the next to guy to take over. I don't need a guard in the first though, so I don't really care to debate him. Should the Lions be interested in bringing back Jonah Jackson given his injury history?

I think Thuney is fine, but contending teams don't trade their team MVPs for no reason. They could have easily made the money work to keep him. Again, we have to be realistic. He will turn 33 this season. It's obvious that he's unlikely to have a lot of years left. Tyronn Smith is a 5 time allpro LT, former top 10 pick, and he's a free agent now cause he's 34. Zach Martin was a superstar guard, 9 time all pro, and just retired at 34. C'mon... I don't know why we have to even discuss this. The writing is on the wall here. I think Thuney is great and I'm happy he's here. He's an upgrade and I think he provides so much leadership value for this team, but the Bears would be making a big mistake if they aren't thinking about grooming his replacement already. I'm not saying he sucks. I'm saying we all know where he is in his career.

For the logic of DT, a strength of this draft is also TE, so you can probably grab one later as well. Historically, it's much easier to find a top end TE in round 3 than a top end DT in round 3. All pro and Pro Bowls are dominated by DTs selected on Day 1. The only real exception is Jones, who was selected at the top of the 2nd only cause he had behavioral concerns. That cannot be said about TE. In the past 5 years, there has been only one all pro TE from the 1st. There have been 4 3rd rounders, 1 2nd, and 3 5ths. For DT, Chris Jones has made all 5 and there's one 3rd round pick. The other 14 all pro DTs are all 1st round picks.

I've never understood why NFL scouting on TE's has been so historically awful. Wasn't Gates an UDFA? Same with Sharpe (maybe 7th round?) But to your point, DT & DE studs are best taken early.

 

[playthrough2001]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1904216684870643943

 

[Xplosive]

Dayo is probably not even considered a top 20 edge. His pay is about 20th, and that's pay from free agency, which is slightly inflated. He's essentially an average starter and was more-so signed out of need than anything else. Not even our own fan base is really excited by him. We all realize what he is. His signing was graded accordingly, average to poor by a lot of pundits. He's proven nothing in the NFL in his 4 years to warrant not having competition for his job.

Jackson has played less games/snaps in the past 3 years than Teven, who we all were tired of for missing time. It's not just one injury. I'm one of the people who didn't come here to say the Jackson trade sucked. I like Jackson and hope he does well. I think he's great if he's healthy. But, I'm not going to pretend there's not risk with his injuries in the last 3 years. I hope he's healthy and stays healthy for a long time. The odds are probably not in his favor. Again, the point is we need to start lining up the next to guy to take over. I don't need a guard in the first though, so I don't really care to debate him. Should the Lions be interested in bringing back Jonah Jackson given his injury history?

I think Thuney is fine, but contending teams don't trade their team MVPs for no reason. They could have easily made the money work to keep him. Again, we have to be realistic. He will turn 33 this season. It's obvious that he's unlikely to have a lot of years left. Tyronn Smith is a 5 time allpro LT, former top 10 pick, and he's a free agent now cause he's 34. Zach Martin was a superstar guard, 9 time all pro, and just retired at 34. C'mon... I don't know why we have to even discuss this. The writing is on the wall here. I think Thuney is great and I'm happy he's here. He's an upgrade and I think he provides so much leadership value for this team, but the Bears would be making a big mistake if they aren't thinking about grooming his replacement already. I'm not saying he sucks. I'm saying we all know where he is in his career.

For the logic of DT, a strength of this draft is also TE, so you can probably grab one later as well. Historically, it's much easier to find a top end TE in round 3 than a top end DT in round 3. All pro and Pro Bowls are dominated by DTs selected on Day 1. The only real exception is Jones, who was selected at the top of the 2nd only cause he had behavioral concerns. That cannot be said about TE. In the past 5 years, there has been only one all pro TE from the 1st. There have been 4 3rd rounders, 1 2nd, and 3 5ths. For DT, Chris Jones has made all 5 and there's one 3rd round pick. The other 14 all pro DTs are all 1st round picks.

I wouldn't take any other TE in round one and only like Warren there because of his versatility.

Point taken on Jackson, I don’t see any chronic injuries for any joints so I will hold on to hope that he is fairly healthy for now.

I don’t consider guard a difficult position to draft in any year, so Thuney, Bates, Murray, & Amegadjie will be enough for this season without investing more into guard.

As I've stated I don't object to DE or DT, just depends on who is there and who Johnson wants as his first pick to build his coaching legacy. I don't think an offensive HC would turn his nose up at a new playmaker for his offense.

 

[pseudonym]

Hampton is not hitting the second round.

What you have to look at is what team needs a RB at the end of the 1st round?

Eagles - no
Chiefs - maybe (Hunt/Pacheco)
Bills - no
Was - maybe (Brian Robinson)
Det - no
Bal - no
Rams - no
Hou - maybe?

So I guess there ARE a few teams that might make that move.

 

[playthrough2001]

What you have to look at is what team needs a RB at the end of the 1st round?

Eagles - no
Chiefs - maybe (Hunt/Pacheco)
Bills - no
Was - maybe (Brian Robinson)
Det - no
Bal - no
Rams - no
Hou - maybe?

So I guess there ARE a few teams that might make that move.

Denver - YES

Chargers - YES

 

[pseudonym]

Denver - YES

Chargers - YES

I didn't go through the whole draft, but yes, good selections.

Here are the teams on NFL.COM that have RB as their top need:

LVR #6 (Jeanty could go here)
DEN #20 (Hampton here?)

Teams with RB as their SECOND highest need:

Bears #10 (#1 need is still OL)
DAL #12 (#1 need is WR—they go Tet here?)
PITT #21 (#1 need is QB—Sanders here?)

So that's why we keep hearing FOUR RBs could go in the first round.

 

[playthrough2001]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1886998111836336130

 

[Xplosive]

Those three DEs combined had 7.5 sacks last year. Booker as the #3 is not really tenable, the #3 guy is probably going to play 40% of snaps minimum, and far more if there is no real #4. They actually have 3 DT who have proven solid track records at the NFL level.

The Bears have $48M tied up in the DL so no matter how many sacks they had the Bears are heavily invested for the next couple years. They most likely aren't pouring more money into the DE position this year just for a rookie to struggle for playtime.

I love Mykel and he was my 1.0 Mock pick, I just don’t see it after what they have spent in free agency. If they go DL Billings would be the guy to upgrade.

 

[playthrough2001]

I didn't go through the whole draft, but yes, good selections.

Here are the teams on NFL.COM that have RB as their top need:

LVR #6 (Jeanty could go here)
DEN #20 (Hampton here?)

Teams with RB as their SECOND highest need:

Bears #10 (#1 need is still OL)
DAL #12 (#1 need is WR—they go Tet here?)
PITT #21 (#1 need is QB—Sanders here?)

So that's why we keep hearing FOUR RBs could go in the first round.

I think Denver will grab him if he’s available at 20.

 

[SugarWalls]

But again, you changed the argument because you added QB’s to this conversation. Buffalo has Allen & Cook and a bunch of scrubs(some with promise) but because they have Allen, their offense will undoubtedly be better until Caleb(if) develops. I’m not sure what argument you are making. You realize elite QB’s elevate the players around them right?

The obvious issues are when looking at most other teams rush game. The bears simply couldn’t execute the run game well, whether that be OL or RB or scheme or whatever, it was not effective.

Improved running game should make a big difference for the offense more so than another receiver or pass catching receiver imo

 

[playthrough2001]

It’s time for the @ILoveDick Mock Draft 1.0

Come on, log back in and go on the record with how you would like the Bears to use their draft picks. You love dissecting their choices in hindsight almost as much as you love dick, but rarely do you have an opinion when it counts.

Don’t you want to start the clock to burn off your name change?

We’ll give you extra credit if you know when the draft actually takes place too.

LFG!

 

[dennehy]

The Bears have $48M tied up in the DL so no matter how many sacks they had the Bears are heavily invested for the next couple years. They most likely aren't pouring more money into the DE position this year just for a rookie to struggle for playtime.

I love Mykel and he was my 1.0 Mock pick, I just don’t see it after what they have spent in free agency. If they go DL Billings would be the guy to upgrade.

They are going to add another DE. And they can add one for very cheap in the draft (even the #10 pick will cost like $5m against the cap) in the first or second round, where EDGE is one of the best positions in the draft. As I mentioned, there will be plenty of playing time at DE. I'd guess R2.

Yes, they can upgrade Billings but he is still a far, far more reliable player than Booker.

Not sure where $48m comes from, it's about $40 in aav and $34 in cap space for 26.

 

[playthrough2001]

They are going to add another DE. And they can add one for very cheap in the draft (even the #10 pick will cost like $5m against the cap) in the first or second round, where EDGE is one of the best positions in the draft. As I mentioned, there will be plenty of playing time at DE. I'd guess R2.

Yes, they can upgrade Billings but he is still a far, far more reliable player than Booker.

Not sure where $48m comes from, it's about $40 in aav and $34 in cap space for 26.

The best use of pick ten is OT, DE, or DT. If they like an edge at 10, he’ll absolutely get plenty of snaps so I agree 100%.

 

[Luke]

I liked their take on Wiliams. All Georgia edge rushers rotate in, so you have to project what the ceiling is. He fits an Allen defense.

"I can't tell you 110% I know what I'm looking at" lol
At least tommy doesn't try to blow smoke up your ass.

 

[dennehy]

I've never understood why NFL scouting on TE's has been so historically awful. Wasn't Gates an UDFA? Same with Sharpe (maybe 7th round?) But to your point, DT & DE studs are best taken early.

Gates didn't play college football, so it's understandable in that case. But in general I agree with you.

 

[--CyBear--]

Every pick fills a need with a good prospect. Personally, I’d like all of the top four picks to go to the trenches but I would not pass on Hampton if he was there at 39.

Yah, I don't either but it's a draft he may not even be the 2nd back taken a month from now.