3 first-round mistakes that continue to haunt Chicago Bears
3. The Chicago Bears whiffed on Gabe Carimi in 2011
The 2011 first round is known as a historic round. The entire draft is historical as well. Cam Newton, JJ Watt, Von Miller, Patrick Peterson, Cameron Jordan. Jason Kelce, Julio Jones, Cam Heyward, AJ Green, Richard Sherman, and Tyron Smith are just a few of the big names to emerge from that class. However, the Chicago Bears will remember that as the Gabe Carimi draft, one of their uglier first-round draft picks.
To be fair, a lot of the names listed above went before Carimi. Guys like Kelce and Sherman came out of nowhere. Still, Muhammad Wilkerson went one pick after Carimi, and Cam Heyward went two picks later. Heyward has a small chance at the Hall of Fame after a stellar career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bears were this close.
Next. Grading the 2023 Chicago Bears rookie class after their first regular season. Grading the 2023 Chicago Bears rookie class after their first regular season. dark
Even the tackle that went right after Carimi was Orlando Franklin, who made 89 career starts, most of them for the team that drafted him. The Bears whiffed huge in a draft that was really hard to find a miss. That will haunt them.