Mel Kiper’s Latest Mock Draft Has Bears Going DT
Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
It’s Mock Draft season and there’s no one more recognizable for their Mock Drafts than the godfather of them all, Mel Kiper. Kiper has nearly singlehandedly turned the NFL Draft, and mock drafts more specifically, from his parent’s basement into a multi-million dollar industry. Like the old EF Hutton commercials, when Kiper talks, people listen. So naturally when Kiper’s Mock Drafts come out, everyone wants to see who ESPN’s draft expert has pegged for their favorite team.
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In Mel Kiper’s latest Mock Draft 2.0 (ESPN Insider access required), he has the Chicago Bears selecting defensive tackle Danny Shelton out of Washington. Shelton is an absolute beast inside and would fill the prototypical 3-4 nose tackle role. He checks in at 6-1 and 343 pounds.
"Analysis: Chicago really can’t go wrong in targeting the top overall defensive player available at this spot. But while they drafted with the interior of the defensive line in mind last year in grabbing Ego Ferguson and Will Sutton with consecutive picks, they still need to continue to add talent up front and work their way into the secondary. John Fox is a coach who has always looked to build a great defensive line, and Shelton — an occupying but disruptive force on the defensive interior — is another player who has the potential to make any team better, because he can make those around him better and has shown he can handle a heavy workload. Teams that are deep up front on defense have such an advantage, and adding Shelton isn’t duplicating anything Chicago has on its roster."
Contrary to popular belief, the #55 at the top of this post is not the latest picture of Lance Briggs, who isn’t yet suited to anchor a 3-4 defensive line. Give him a few more months at the Double Nickel Smokehouse to see how he fills out.
Shelton would be the biggest thing to hit the Chicago Bears since Ted Washington and Keith Traylor “dropped 700 pounds of ass” into the middle of the Bears defensive line. If the Bears do intend to change to a 3-4 defense, a stout, 2-gap nose tackle would be critical to anchor the defensive line and serve as the centerpiece of Vic Fangio’s defense.
What do you think? Would Shelton make sense for the Bears? Do you still get juiced to see Mel Kiper’s mock drafts?