Chicago Bears: Draft prospects that nobody is talking about (part 1)
Chicago Bears 2021 NFL Draft: Sleepers
The Chicago Bears general manager is known for looking underneath rocks that most have not checked. Tarik Cohen was not heavily known until a video of him doing a backflip while catching footballs surfaced. Eddie Jackson was a monster at Alabama until his non-primary position injury caused him to miss significant time, thus falling in the draft rankings.
Akiem Hicks went undrafted but found a home as the “Bear” in the Chicago Bears. Jimmy Graham caught a total of 17 total passes in college but scored a 9.62 of 10 on the relative athletics score (RAS). Graham’s pro-day results busted him into the third round of the 2010 NFL draft.
Most people get focused on the first round of the draft but forget that other players have a chance at becoming a star regardless of the round they are drafted. This article might get long (broke it up into three parts), but it would be worth your time if you want to know about some players that ESPN and the NFL Network are not talking about.
Most of these players were based on production, but the RAS score will heavily influence many of these players. Some players that made the list that will not be discussed include:
- Ian Book, QB – Norte Dame
- Jake Funk, RB – Maryland
- Tarik Black, WR – Texas
- Tommy Tremble, TE – Norte Dame
- Spencer Brown, OT – Northern Iowa
- Brady Christensen, OT – BYU
- Ben Cleveland, IOL – Georgia
- Quinn Meinerz, IOL – UW-Whitewater
- Elerson Smith, EDGE – Northern Iowa
- Shaka Toney, EDGE – Penn State
- Joe Tryon, EDGE – Washington
- Bobby Brown, IDL – Texas A&M
- Alim McNeil, IDL – North Carolina State
- Jamin Davis, LB – Kentucky
- Ifeatu Melifonwu, DB – Syracuse
- Paulson Adebo, DB – Stanford
- Caden Sterns, S – Texas
The reason why I listed the players out is, so you don’t ask, “What about _____?” In all seriousness, these players are on the typical general manager’s radar already. They have done enough to show that they should be drafted and might get over-drafted.
If you don’t already know about this list of players, I suggest you check out some highlights of them. They might spark your interest and will lessen the blow if they get drafted ahead of other players that could be on your radar.
The Chicago Bears general manager has his work cut out for him. While I have begged for him to trade down in every draft he has taken part in, it doesn’t sound like he will do that anytime soon. As of April 20th, 2021, the New York Giants have been rumored to be open to selling the 10th overall pick. If Trey Lance, Mac Jones, or Justin Fields falls to that area, the Chicago Bears are likely in play. It is how Ryan Pace thinks.