After a disappointing 8-8 season that exposed their roster's shortcomings, the Bears are heading into a pivotal offseason as they look to make up ground on the Packers and the Vikings in the NFC North. But the Bears are also entering both free agency and the draft with limited resources. They don't have much available cap space. And they also don't have many draft picks due to Ryan Pace's penchant for treating draft picks the same way Jameis Winston treats footballs. Which means, Pace will have to find hidden gems in both free agency and in the draft.
Luckily for the Bears, Pace has a history of finding quality players in the mid-to-late rounds. If anything, it's the first round that's been particularly tricky for him -- most notably, his Mitchell Trubisky and Kevin White selections at the top of the first round. But in five drafts as the Bears' general manager, Pace has found players like Eddie Goldman (second round), Adrian Amos (fifth round), Cody Whitehair (second round), Nick Kwiatkoski (fourth round), Jordan Howard (fifth round), Eddie Jackson (fourth round), Tarik Cohen (fourth round), James Daniels (second round), Anthony Miller (second round), Bilal Nichols (fifth round), and David Montgomery (third round). Pace's track record might offer some hope as the Bears enter the upcoming draft without a first-round pick, which belongs to the Raiders due to the Khalil Mack trade.
With all that in mind, let's take a look at how the Bears approached the 2020 NFL Draft in Chris Trapasso's seven-round mock draft from earlier this week. You can check out the entire draft by clicking here, but if you just want to see how the Bears made out, just keep on scrolling for a breakdown of all of Trapasso's Bears picks.
Day 2
Round 2, No. 43 overall: Lloyd Cushenberry III, OL, LSU
Round 2, No. 50 overall: Cole Kmet, TE, Notre Dame
As previously mentioned, the Bears do not have a first-round pick. So, barring a trade up, they won't be making their first selection until the second round. Here, Trapasso has the Bears filling two big-time needs on offense.
Cushenberry would've been an important edition even before Kyle Long retired, but now that Long has officially retired, he's an even more important get. The Bears have a huge opening on the interior of their offensive line that Cushenberry can fill. While so much of the negative attention last season fell on Trubisky (and rightfully so), arguably a just as disappointing aspect of the team was its offensive line, which finished the year ranked 29th in run blocking and 20th in pass protection, per Football Outsiders' advanced metrics. So, even if Long didn't retire, the Bears would be in need of reinforcements so they can provide better pass protection and generate better production on the ground.
Kmet, meanwhile, would be added to a team that has sorely lacked production out of its tight ends since the Pace era began. Pace tried to fix the problem by signing Trey Burton in free agency a couple of years ago, but that hasn't at all worked out. He also drafted Adam Shaheen, but Shaheen has yet to turn potential into production. Last season, J.P. Holtz topped all Bears tight ends with 91 yards. So, yeah, they could use an upgrade at the position.
Day 3
Round 4, No. 140 overall: Devin Duvernay, WR, Texas
Round 5, No. 163 overall: Reggie Robinson II, CB, Tulsa
Round 6, No. 196 overall: Tipa Galeai, EDGE, Utah State
Round 6, No. 200 overall: L'Jarius Sneed, S, Louisiana Tech
Round 7, No. 226 overall: Kyahva Tezino, LB, San Diego State
Round 7, No. 233 overall: Scott Frantz, OL, Kansas State
It's no surprise to see the Bears taking a receiver, cornerback, edge rusher, safety, linebacker, and offensive lineman on the third and final day of the draft because they're all areas of needs.
At wide receiver, the Bears just had to cut Taylor Gabriel to give themselves more salary cap space. Plus, Allen Robinson is entering the final year of his deal. That's where Duvernay could come into play. And he'd have a chance to develop slowly in 2020 with third-year receiver Anthony Miller poised to take on a bigger role during the upcoming season.
Similarly, the Bears released Prince Amukamara to create cap space. A year ago, they lost Bryce Callahan in free agency. That's why they're in need of another corner to play opposite of Kyle Fuller, with Buster Skrine in the slot. Robinson could be that corner.
While the Bears are known for their pass rushers like Mack and Akiem Hicks, EDGE is a need. For one, they need more depth at the position. Aaron Lynch just isn't really cutting it as their backup pass rusher. Two, there's a chance the Bears could move on from Leonard Floyd, whether that's next week before his fifth-year option becomes fully guaranteed or in a year when his deal expires altogether.
Safety is an obvious hole with Ha Ha Clinton-Dix hitting free agency one year after Amos left for the Packers. Eddie Jackson could need another new partner on the back end of the Bears' defense.
At linebacker, the Bears have Roquan Smith penciled in as one starter, but with both Danny Trevathan and Nick Kwiatkoski hitting free agency (my guess is that they'll keep one), more depth is needed, which is where Tezino comes into play.
Finally, Frantz would give the Bears more depth up front. You can never have enough quality offensive linemen. And, again, the Bears' offensive line was a major disappointment in 2019. They need to get better up front in both pass protection and run blocking. So don't be surprised if they use multiple picks up front.