Chicago Bears: Round 2 (52) – Eric Stokes, CB
With the second-round pick, Ryan Pace replaces Kyle Fuller with Eric Stokes. Stokes stands tall for a corner at 6’1″ and is still fast. At his Georgia pro day, he ran a 4.25 and 4.29 40-yard dash. The speed and height of cornerback Eric Stokes will nicely compliment the other Bears starting cornerback Jaylon Johnson.
I believe the Bears can find a quality starter in the second round at cornerback once again in 2021 as they did in 2020. The Bears would prefer a left tackle and probably a wide receiver as well. However, Stokes should fit both a need and the best player available mentality that Ryan Pace deploys. Pace has proven to like those uncoachable traits of speed and height in his most valued picks.
Chicago Bears: Round 3 (71) – Walker Little, OT
The Chicago Bears could not wait any longer on an offensive tackle. Ryan Pace made a call and moved up by trading with the Denver Broncos to select Walker Little.
Walker LIttle has first-round talent as he is a very good pass protector and a plus run blocker. However, he has not played for two years. He had a very good 2018 season but hurt his knee in the first game of 2019 and then opted out in 2020.
However, he made a very good showing of himself in Stanford’s pro day which included running a 4.81, 40-yard dash. This time puts him in the 98th percentile for starting tackles. Clearly, the knee injury has not hurt his speed. Here is a link to the rest of his pro day results.
The Bears will not find a better left tackle prospect in the second round as they will have flaws that Walker LIttle does not have. He is big at 6’7″ and 309 pounds, plus he is very intelligent (Stanford) and agile. He also loves football and has some nasty in him.
If the Bears do take a chance on LIttle, they can still hedge their bets at left tackle by signing Eric Fisher and/or bring back Jason Spriggs as a starter or swing tackle. If the Bears do acquire Russell Wilson they will have to cut their starting left tackle, Charles Leno, as they will need to use the $9 million owed to him to pay Wilson.