3 reasons Chicago Bears should draft a tackle at pick #9
As the Chicago Bears have added more names to free agency, they have started to check off the boxes of the positions that they may or may not draft. With how many holes they had, they were never going to be able to fill them all.
While most needs suggest a defensive line or tackle will be the pick at number nine, some still other spots being filled as well. The team will certainly debate each position thoroughly, but at this point, it looks like the Chicago Bears should draft a tackle ninth overall.
3. It is harder to find tackles than other positions
One of the big reasons why you have to take a tackle high is that there are fewer humans who are shaped like NFL tackles and can move like NFL tackles. No one is saying against Jaxson Smith-Ngjigba, he is the craftiest route runner in this class. However, you can find guys who are 6', 190 pounds, that move like him. There are finer details to learn, and he is a master of his craft, but that body type is more common.
There just are not that many humans who are 6'5" and over 300 pounds, but then can run a 40-yard dash in about 5 seconds or so. From that smaller sample of people, the ones that can actually play are even rare. When those humans come around, they get drafted high.
That is why you saw wide receiver change teams in bunches last year, and this season. You see it with running backs even more often. Cornerbacks, linebackers, you name it. However, when you find a human who has the size of a tackle and can move like a tackle, they never get let go.
Mike McGlinchey was overpaid in free agency because it is rare to see someone like him get free, and most agree he is average at best at his position. Trent Williams broke free from Washington, but it took something as rare as medical negligence to spark that. The only time that you can add experience and the perfect dimensions of size for a tackle is in the top ten.
The Chicago Bears can hope that Carolina is bad next year, but they are in a weak division and they have made some moves. They do not plan to be in the top ten again with Justin Fields. It is time to take the rare body type that you never expect to see fall to you in future drafts.