This will be the first Chicago Bears mock draft that I write up this year. Previous mock drafts in recent years have had selections such as Roquan Smith, Cole Kmet, Bilal Nichols, Jaylon Johnson, Justin Fields, Teven Jenkins, and Darnell Mooney.
With that in mind, these drafts are trying to be predictive more than my wishes on who I want. Of course, this year will be tougher than most because we do not have the track record Ryan Pace left, and this particular mock will focus solely on Senior Bowl players.
Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus were there for a few days, so at this stage of the process, these are likely the only players they have been able to discuss so far when thinking about the NFL draft. Who are some Senior Bowl names who stood out, and when would the Chicago Bears have to think about pulling the trigger.
Remember, the discussion should be more about the player fit, and not whether or not they will be here. Beyond that, I am using the draft network machine, so send complaints to them.
We do not know much about Ryan Poles yet, but we know that he wants to build this thing through the offensive line. They found a right tackle in Larry Borom last year, but that is a day three pick, and many think his upside comes at guard.
If the Chicago Bears do not bring James Daniels back you could be looking at Daniel Faalele next to Borom on the right side of the offensive line. That would be some serious beef. Faalele is almost just a bigger, more physical version of Borom.
Both have the size on their side, and both are at their best getting downhill and annihilating people in the run game. Neither have pitch-perfect feet, especially when moving backward, but that is what will cause Faalele to drop into this zone.
If they can get those two on the same side of the line, it could be a duo we look to as road graders for years to come.