Chicago Bears: 3 late-round gems Ryan Pace must target in 2020 NFL Draft
By Ryan Sikes
Jake Hanson, IOL, Oregon
If Pace chooses to elect a long-term replacement for Leno in the second round, he could wait until the sixth round to take Jake Hanson from Oregon as the right guard of the future. He played center during his time in Eugene, but like James Daniels, he can easily make the switch to guard. Oh, and he also didn’t allow a single sack in his first three seasons.
Pro Football Focus rated him as the best pass-blocking interior offensive lineman for the 2018 season, which is a huge necessity for the Chicago Bears and Trubisky (or Foles) to be successful in 2020. Hanson was one of the strongest guys at the NFL Combine, posting 33 reps on the bench press, which were second-most for the event.
While strength is not always a direct correlation of NFL success (see Stephen Paea), it’s not difficult to determine how he was so good at not allowing sacks at Oregon. Hanson paved the way for CJ Verdell and Travis Dye‘s combined 1,900 rushing yards while keeping Justin Herbert upright for 3,471 yards and a 32-to-6 touchdown to interception ratio.
No one along Pac-12 interior offensive lines was better in pass blocking than Oregon's Jake Hanson last season. pic.twitter.com/ubwSOoMLs5
— PFF College (@PFF_College) June 14, 2019
Hanson is a big dude at 6-foot-5, 295 pounds, and would be an excellent guy to replace Long at right guard.