Chicago Bears 2023 NFL Draft: Final seven-round mock draft leaves many fans excited

Chicago Bears Draft Pick No. 115: Israel Abanikanda, RB - Pitt

When I made the trade down from 109 to 115, there were two players I was targeting and they both played the same position - Israel Abanikanda and Chase Brown. I love both of these running back prospects and I don't think they are getting enough attention from draft analysts. I'll admit, I was one of the analysts not giving Israel Abanikanda enough attention. I had him lower on my board until a subscriber to my YouTube channel called me out on it. I went back to the tape and he moved up to the same tier as Chase Brown, but actually one spot ahead of Brown.

Now, I would have been fine going with Brown here, but Abanikanda has slightly better speed than Brown. Brown's height came in at under 5'10" also which shocked me a little. I thought he'd be 5'10" or 5'11". Brown weighs in at just under 210 pounds while Abanikanda is 215.

Either of these running backs would look good in Luke Getsy's offensive system, but I like the extra height and weight on Abanikanda. His 4.3 speed should allow him to easily get to the outside edge and he has homerun-hitting ability whenever he touches the football. He isn't the twitchiest running back prospect, but he has great cut-back ability to make defenders miss in open space and gain additional yardage. Adding him to the Bears' backfield instantly pushes Trestan Ebner out.