The Chicago Bears cannot pass on this player with the ninth pick

Regardless of whether the Chicago Bears keep Justin Fields or draft a new Quarterback, there's one player in the draft that Ryan Poles should instantly select if he's still available when the Bears go back on the clock in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

That is where I have to put my foot down in this conversation. You can list Brock Bowers as a tight end on the depth chart because you have to, but the truth is more than that.

He is so much more than that.

This is what generational talent looks like pic.twitter.com/Xiad1PJX2f
— College Football Report (@CFBRep) October 3, 2023

Brock Bowers is a generational tight end prospect. He is generational because not only is he excellent at his actual position of tight end, but also because he projects to simultaneously be capable of dominating opponents from the slot or punishing them at H-back at the NFL level.

He's touted as an offensive savant who can devastate a defense at all three levels in any phase of the football game. The benefits of his presence and skill set alone make him a talent multiplier at multiple positions depending on where you want his presence to be felt.

Yards vs EPA per route run from Tight End prospects (college career)

Brock Bowers clears Kyle Pitts and the homegrown Baltimore Ravens pic.twitter.com/bFCwgoZ12K
— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) February 6, 2024

I don't know about you, but that's a guy I'm dying to sign to a contract regardless of who is throwing him passes in 2024 and beyond, especially when his perfect counterpart is already in the room and his name is Cole Kmet.