Chicago Bears mock draft with a trade into the first round
A look at the final picks in this 2022 Chicago Bears NFL mock draft
With the 150th pick of this mock draft, the Chicago Bears add safety, Markquese Bell. This seems like a good time to draft a safety given the Bears’ depth chart at safety is thin. Bell has good size for a strong safety. He stands at 6’2″ and 212 lbs. In his three-year career at Florida A&M as a safety, he had 156 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, and six interceptions. He was one of four prospects from the HBCU invited to the NFL Combine. HBCU stands for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. At the NFL combine Bell surprised everyone with an official 4.41 40-yard dash.
Bell is included in Bootleg Football’s defensive gems video. In this link, EJ Snyder points out that Bell loves contact and his best skill is crashing the run from depth. Snyder also says Bell is a very good blitzer.
To top it all off Bell is very good at the Peanut Punch and has created a lot of turnovers using it. It’s also quite possible that Bell can play the hybrid safety/linebacker role which is a somewhat unique part of Eberfluss’s defense. Markquese Bell’s profile very much fits like someone who can be quite useful in Matt Eberfluss’s defense.
Next with the 186th-overall pick and the last pick of this mock draft, the Chicago Bears get Decobie Durant. He is short but fast as he runs a 4.38. He is described as a very competitive and confident player. Durant stands at 5’9″ and 180 lbs.
He is also from the HBCU and like Bell was one of four HBCU players invited to the NFL Combine. He projects as a backup slot corner and special teams guy. He has legit ball skills as he had 12 interceptions but is expected to struggle to cover the taller wideouts.
One counter to that is against Clemson he played well against receivers of all sizes. In this Clemson game, he also picked off two interceptions. Given his speed and ballhawk skills, he seems like someone who could very well find a place on an Eberflus team.
This Bears mock draft fills out all the important holes lacking in the current Bears roster. The linchpin to make it all happen, is being aggressive in pursuing a trade with the Giants for the 5th pick in this draft.