3 players Chicago Bears must avoid in top 10 of 2023 NFL draft

2. Chicago Bears should not draft Bijan Robinson

When the Chicago Bears signed D'Onta Foreman and Travis Homer, it was pretty clear that Ryan Poles valued the running back by committee. He added running backs with specific skill sets that just so happened to complement his other back with a specific skill set.

However, there is still talk that the team may go with Bijan Robinson in round one. That would be pretty shocking. The question is not whether Bijan Robinson is better than someone like Paris Johnson and Jalen Carter, it is more about how much better he would have to be to pay this off.

Let's look at the franchise tag. If you franchise tag a left tackle, it is worth over $18M, and the same is said for a defensive tackle. If you franchise tag a running back, it is $10M. Carter or Johnson hitting their ceiling is twice as valuable.

Andre Dillard just signed for roughly $10M this offseason, so his salary is on par with Josh Jacobs and Saquan Barkley. B.J. Hill and D.J. Jones are the interior defensive lineman in the range of Jacobs and Barkley.

So, if Robinson hits his peak or is as good as Saquan Barkley, and Carter is just as good as B.J. Hill, they will bring the same value. If Paris Johnson is a bust, or as good as Andre Dillard, he will still be valued by the NFL as much as Bijan Robinson because it is that hard to find good tackles, and that easy to find good running backs. The game is won in the trenches, and running backs need offensive linemen to win.

If the Chicago Bears did not have to stare down the chance of Larry Borom maybe we can talk about Bijan Robinson. Until then, it would be an awful pick and a luxury for a team that was just picking number one.