A report this morning has the Chicago Bears down to two positions (players?) for the ninth overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The 2024 NFL Draft is less than 36 hours away and there are reports that the Chicago Bears are down to two positions for the ninth overall selection, defensive end and wide receiver. According to report from CBSSports the Bears are down to drafting one of the two receivers likely to be left on the board after Marvin Harrison Jr goes in the top-5.
Sources around the league seem to believe the Chicago Bears will go one of two ways with the No. 9 pick: pass rusher or wide receiver.
The Bears sent a fourth-round pick to L.A. to get Keenan Allen in the offseason, but he’s 32 this season with one year left on his deal. I sent Chicago Rome Odunze in my mock with the thought Allen is a one-year veteran rental to lead the wide receiver room in a crucial Caleb Williams rookie year. Also, the Bears have been very serious about commitment under president Kevin Warren. I could see Chicago taking a receiver at No. 9 to prove to Williams and the rest of the league how serious the Bears are about this offense. Remember, they locked up offensive coordinator Shane Waldron with lightning speed in the offseason.
Other sources have pointed out the Bears could use the pick on a pass rusher to take some pressure off Montez Sweat. It’s a good idea, and it makes roster-composition sense. But the Bears sent a second-round pick to Washington for Sweat (and then paid him) because they didn’t anticipate strong options in free agency or the draft this year.
And like so many teams in this draft, a trade down is always possible.
That would leave the Bears with the chance to draft either wide receivers Malike Nabers from LSU or Rome Odunze from Washington. Either one would be the best option for Caleb Williams to pair with for the next eight to ten years.
Williams was already seen playing catch with Odunze in Detroit after the two flew in together on the same plane for the 2024 NFL Draft show. Pairing Williams with Odunze would be an absolute dream scenario. By almost all accounts Malike Nabers will be off the board by the time the Chicago Bears pick at nine.
That would leave the 6-foot-3 target from Seattle as the next best option for the Chicago Bears and the option most fans would be satisfied with. The Chicago Bears need to show they are dedicated to building up their offense after investing so many early round picks on defense the first two NFL Drafts of Ryan Poles’ Chicago Bears GM tenure.
The second player option that has become the betting favorite is one of the pass rushers on the board. The question is which one?
Drafting an edge rusher at nine would be a huge mistake in the 2024 NFL draft
For starters there’s not an elite pass rusher available in the 2024 NFL Draft, There’s not even a consensus on who the best edge rusher is. Alabama’s Dallas Turner is 6-foot-3 247-pounds, and that projects more like a 3-4 outside linebacker than a base 4-3 defensive end. Florida State’s Jared Verse doesn’t show a lot of speed off the edge and gets by, by bullying younger and inexperienced players with his power move. Verse also didn’t have the best consistency or production despite being consider a top prospect for all of the 2023 college football season.
Then you come to Laiatu Latu who reportedly had fusion surgery on vertebrae in his neck. Some teams cleared him medically while others took him off their draft boards entirely. Latu missed two full seasons at Washington before transferring to UCLA and having his breakout 13 sack season. Do you want to risk a Top-10 pick in the 2024 NFL draft on a player who may only last in the league five years on the high end of some estimates?
The best scenario is a wide receiver at nine or trade back scenario in which a QB falls and then there’s a team that wants to move up. The value in the Top-10 is on the offensive side of the ball and the Chicago Bears need to show once and for all that they are dedicated to building up their offense. They will have their first true franchise QB and they need to do everything they can to support him.
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