What Chicago Bears 30 pre-draft visits tells us in 2023 NFL draft
The Chicago Bears finalized their pre-draft visits. The team is allowed to have 30 visits to Halas Hall to get to know prospects better. They also brought in five local players, who do not count against the top 30 visits.
Will Chicago Bears draft for the trenches?
While the Chicago Bears bringing in a player does not mean the team will draft them it does show some sort of interest, or at least interest in getting to know the player better. Still, while the list of visits may not be notable on the player-to-player scale, it does tend to give us an idea of what Chicago is doing on a grander scale. Take a look at the list of their visits by position.
Offensive line - 12
Defensive line - 10
Wide receiver - 6
Defensive back - 3
Running back - 2
quarterback - 1
Tight end - 1
Yes, the defensive line and offensive line can be broken up and it would not look as high. Still, they essentially brought in four edge rushers, four interior guys, and a couple of inside-outside guys. They brought in two centers, and a lot of tackles who may be guard, as well as pure tackles. Either way, this tells us what the team will do.
22 of the 35 names they brought in were from the offensive and defensive line. They were centers and tackles, edges and interior rushers, but they were players on the line. It is obvious that this is going to be a draft where they focus on the trenches.
Last year they did not have the assets and had to go with the best player available. This year, Ryan Poles has the proper capital, and has the time to put together his draft plan. With that in mind, he is focusing on where he has to upgrade the roster, and that is obviously the lines.
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Beyond that, when you look at this draft the strengths are in the trenches. This is a deep cornerback draft, but the team only brought in Tyrqiue Stevenson and Deonte Banks. They could obviously draft a cornerback still, but it does show that their focus was more about getting a firm order and knowing exactly which defensive and offensive lineman that intrigues them in the 2023 NFL draft.