The NFL Draft kicks off in a matter of hours, but if you're a Bears fan, the draft likely won't begin for you until near the end of the second day. That's because, thanks to the Khalil Mack trade, the Bears don't have a first-round pick. After trading up for Anthony Miller in last year's draft, they don't even have a second-round pick. The good news for Bears fans is that they don't really have many apparent needs, so even without adding any impact prospects in the first two rounds, a return trip to the playoffs may still be in the cards.
You can check out which picks the Bears currently have below, as well as our projection of their top positional needs. I'll then build a war-room big board based upon players I think have some kind of chance of making it to their first pick before sharing multiple draft classes that make sense for the team from myself, Chris Trapasso and Ryan Wilson.
As for the actual draft, you'll be able to stream our live coverage right here on CBS Sports HQ (or download the CBS Sports app for free on any mobile or connected TV device) breaking down all the picks and everything you need to know during draft weekend.
Current draft picks
| Round | Overall | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 87 | |
| 4 | 126 | |
| 5 | 162 | |
| 7 | 222 | from Denver through Philadelphia |
| 7 | 238 | |
Team needs
The CBS Sports NFL writing staff recently compiled positional rankings to identify needs for each team heading into the draft. A helpful guide: any position group that had an average ranking worse than 16.0 (on a scale of 1 to 32) was considered a "need," while any that ranked worse than 23.0 (bottom-third of the league) was considered a "pressing need."
| QB | RB | WR/TE | OL | EDGE | INT DL | LB | DB |
| 18.4 | 14.8 | 14.2 | 12.6 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 3.8 | 2.3 |
Needs: QB
Pressing: N/A
No pressing needs for the Bears, a team with an elite defense at all three levels and an average-ish offense led by a slightly below-average quarterback. The key here is probably upgrading the infrastructure around Mitchell Trubisky in order to minimize the chance that he can undermine their season. Head coach Matt Nagy is obviously a big part of that, but there's a reason the Bears made such a concerted effort to add offensive talent last offseason; the less Trubisky has to do on his own, the better.
War room big board
Projecting what the Bears could do with their first pick is pretty difficult, considering it isn't scheduled to come until No. 87. But I'll do my best at forecasting options that could slide down to them. Here's how I'd project the Bears' draft board for their first pick, considering only players I feel have some chance of making it in range:
- CB Sean Bunting, Central Michigan
- CB Trayvon Mullen, Clemson
- LB Mack Wilson, Alabama
- WR Terry McLaurin, Ohio State
- CB Isaiah Johnson, Houston
- OLB Oshane Ximines, Old Dominion
- RB Miles Sanders, Penn State
- WR Miles Boykin, Notre Dame
- OLB D'Andre Walker, Georgia
- OLB Jachai Polite, Florida
- WR Emanuel Hall, Missouri
- RB Devin Singletary, FAU
Seven-round mock drafts
| Round | Overall | Player | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 87 | RB Miles Sanders, Penn State | |
| 4 | 126 | OLB Jalen Jelks, Oregon | |
| 5 | 162 | ILB T.J. Edwards, Wisconsin | |
| 7 | 222 | CB Hamp Cheevers, Boston College | from DEN |
| 7 | 238 | S/CB Ugochukwu Amadi, Oregon | |
The Bears have no picks in the first two rounds, which actually isn't terrible for them as they don't have many pressing needs to address. With their one Day 2 pick, they take advantage of running backs sliding down the board to land a good one in Sanders, who is a much more versatile running mate for Tarik Cohen in the backfield. He has the potential to carry the load if called upon down the road.
Day 3 starts with help on the edge in Jelks, who can provide depth behind the team's two stars at outside linebacker. Then the team shifts inside for more depth with Edwards, a solid all-around player with a low ceiling but also a high floor. Finally, the Bears score depth for the secondary in the second round with Cheevers, an option to cover the slot, and Amadi, who could also develop into a slot option but is a proven commodity at safety as well.
More seven-round mocks:
(*) indicates pick acquired via trade
 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | ||
| Round 2 | | |
| Round 3 | OL Nate Davis, UNC Charlotte | CB JoeJuan Williams, Vanderbilt |
| Round 4 | CB Mark Fields, Clemson | S Jaquan Johnson, Miami |
| Round 5 | S Ugo Amadi, Oregon | RB Ryquell Armstead, Temple |
| Round 6 | | |
| Round 7 | RB Rodney Anderson, Oklahoma EDGE Carl Granderson, Wyoming | TE Alize Mack, Notre Dame DL Kyle Phillips, Tennessee |
Check out more first-round mocks from CBS Sports.
