Chicago Bears: Potential undrafted free agent gems

The Chicago Bears are no strangers to adding talent in the undrafted free agent market.

The Chicago Bears 2020 NFL draft has come to a close. The public viewed the Bears draft needs as quarterback, wide receiver, guard, tackle, cornerback, and safety. After drafting Cole Kmet, Jaylon Johnson, Trevis Gibson, Kindle Vildor, Darnell Mooney, Arlington Hambright, and Lachavious Simmons, the Bears covered every draft need except for quarterback and safety.

Regardless of how anybody views the draft selections, they covered 78% of the holes on the roster. The offseason isn’t over, though. The Chicago Bears now will add talent via the undrafted market to gather in players they wanted to draft but felt could be had after the draft and potentially fill other wholes.

For now, the Chicago Bears have added:

• Ledarius Mack, edge defender, Buffalo
• Ahmad Wagner, wide receiver, Kentucky
• Rashad Smith, linebacker, Flordia Atlantic
• Badara Traore, offensive tackle, LSU
• Artavis Pierce, running back, Oregon State
• Lacale London, defensive line, Western Illinois
• Dieter Eiselen, guard, Yale
• Trevon McSwain, defensive line, Duke

Undrafted free agents are essential because, at times, you can find a diamond in the rough. There are times when teams find value in the undrafted market. Some players to get excited about are Dieter Eiselen, who was a monster at Yale.

He was the 2017 ALL-IVY honorable mentioned, 2018 Phil Steele All-Ivy First Team, 2019 Greg Dubinetz award winner, 2019 Phil Steele Ivy League offensive lineman of the year. He won the IVY league championships in 2017 and 2019. Eiselen is a stout angry run blocker.

Ledarius mack, younger brother of Khalil Mack, will not be wearing 52 for the Chicago Bears. Little Mack has the same luxury as Julian Okwara and Shaq Griffen. Mack will have the opportunity to play alongside big Mack. Leadarius Mack was a rotation edge rusher for Buffalo and started to show some dominance in his senior year.

He had 24 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, and seven sacks. The two issues with Mack is that he was a rotational edge rusher and is listed at 6’1 240 pounds as an edge defender. Big Mack’s name might not be big enough for little Mack to make the team. But if Ledarius Mack shows the same aggression as his brother, he can be a contributor on special teams and work his way toward that 4th edge rusher role.

Ryan Pace loves to seek out other rising talents while he’s scouting a particular program. Artavis Pierce is one of the beneficiaries of that this year. Pierce is a four year running back at Oregon state and split reps with Chicago Bears FB/HB Ryan Nall.

Pierce thought he was going to get the starting gig after Nall left for the NFL, but the Beavers recruited underrated 3-star running back Jamar Jefferson. Jefferson became the bell cow in 2018, but that didn’t stop Pierce from continuing his role at a high level. Pierce is a 5’11 208 pound third-down back that caught 74 passes during his four-year stay. Ryan Pace hasn’t drafted a running back now twice during his time as a general manager.

Ahmad Wagner is a desirable target. Every draft season, Ryan Pace targets and brings in a monster wide receiver that is a big body jump ball type of guy. Wagner is that guy this year. He played for Kentucky his senior year, which was one of the top rushing teams in the country.

Wagner caught 15 passes for 254 yards. In a typical season, someone would think why this guy? Well, Kentucky only passed 252 times all season. Wagner should not be considered a U tight end. He should be regarded as an underdeveloped Chase Claypool.

Who knows if any of these guys will amount to anything, but UDFA are very low-risk, high-reward.