The Chicago Bears have several fewer roster questions to answer after trading away quarterback Justin Fields and trading for Pro Bowl wide receiver Keenan Allen.
It is safe now to pencil in former USC quarterback Caleb Williams as the No. 1 overall pick next month. However, Chicago also owns the rights to the 9th overall selection. Before acquiring Allen from the Los Angeles Chargers for the paltry price of a 2024 fourth-rounder, the Bears were likely to draft an elite-level wideout from a deep pool of prospects.
However, with the quarterback and receiver positions shored up, ESPN’s draft expert Mel Kiper projects Chicago will address its pass rush by adding an elite edge defender Jared Verse alongside defensive end Montez Sweat.
“Before the trade for Keenan Allen, I would have said the Bears should do everything they could to try to get one of the top three wideouts in this class. That’s no longer necessary,” Kiper wrote on Tuesday, March 19. “Instead, Chicago has options with its second first-round pick. I’m not totally sold on Braxton Jones being the long-term answer at left tackle, which means offensive line could be in play. And a defense that had just 30 sacks last season (31st in the league) could use help too. So let’s add an edge rusher on the other side of Montez Sweat.”
Jared Verse Projected as Second-Best Edge Rusher in 2024 NFL Draft Class
Verse is arguably the most athletic edge rusher in the 2024 draft class, and Pro Football Focus (PFF) currently ranks him the second-best prospect at the position behind Dallas Turner of Alabama.
“Verse doesn’t have the longest arms, and that shows up in some pass-rush counters and in tackling, but he brings his hard hat and lunch pail to every snap, wins with strength regularly and is built like a first-rounder,” PFF wrote.
Kiper agreed that occasional issues showed up on Verse’s game tape, and he predicted that Turner would go one spot ahead of Verse to the Atlanta Falcons at No. 8 overall. Still, Verse’s upside is too great in Kiper’s eyes for the Bears to pass on him with the 9th pick.
“Verse’s testing numbers at the combine were impressive, even if I didn’t love his 2023 tape. He was too inconsistent at times,” Kiper wrote. “But at 6-foot-4, 254 pounds, he has a complete set of tools to be a devastating pass-rusher at the next level, if he can put everything together. The Bears have made a few shrewd moves this offseason, and if their rookie quarterback comes in and plays well, they could be challengers in the NFC North.”
Montez Sweat Put Up Pro Bowl Season for Bears in 2023
Chicago also made a shrewd move ahead of last year’s mid-season trade deadline, dealing a second-round pick to the Washington Commanders in return for Sweat.
Sweat went on to lead the Bears in sacks, racking up 12.5 total between stints in Washington and Chicago and becoming the first player in NFL history to lead two franchises in sacks during the same season.
The Bears were still near the bottom of the league in total sacks in 2023, as Kiper noted, and need to address that position perhaps more than any other. As such, if Chicago doesn’t go with a tackle at No. 9, the team is likely to go with Verse.
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