Bears Draft Grades: At What Point Is Need the Driving Force?

The Bears say they stuck to their draft board in Round 3 to bring in a tackle who Ryan Poles says will probably not be a Year 1 starter. Meanwhile, the pass rush looks thin.

Ryan Poles believes in his draft board but the cost on Friday appears to be sacrificing potential pass rush help. / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

NFL Draft boards are the reliable fallback or easy explanation for all unwanted inquiries about players selected.

The GM or personnel boss can come up with numerous reasons for drafting a player when they possess a huge need for someone at another position. They can always fall back to the old reliable "We had him higher on our draft board."

It appears the Bears did this on Friday with their only pick in Rounds 2 and 3.

There really is no way to debate this reason for picking someone, unless you've seen the draft board. The board is the board and you stick to it. It's their board and ultimately they're making the pick and you're not.

Here's how the Bears grade out for ignoring a need in Round 3, after they didn't have a pick in Round 2, and sticking to their draft board.

Bears Round 3 Grade: C

No. 75 T Kiran Amegadjie

They must have had an extremely high grade on Amegadjie and not a high one on defensive line players at this point in the draft.

Otheisrwise, they're taking a huge risk here.

Last year the Bears tried to convince everyone drafting for an edge rusher isn't necessary. They can rush from the inside at tackle.

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Of course, neither of the rookies they drafted were able to do this immediately and Justin Jones was an adequate player but not an impact maker at 3-technique, the most important position in their defensive scheme.

So they had no great interior rush, never drafted an edge rusher and found at the beginning of training camp that they better go out and sign Yannick Ngakoue.

This wasn't enough, as Ngakoue was getting pressure off the edge but not finishing. There wasn't much help for him at finishing as DeMarcus Walker was adjusting to a new defense and new team, but also had battled through some offseason and preseason injuries.

The end result was a pass rush with nine sacks nearly halfway into the season and five came in one game when Washington collapsed.

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So they had to make another move and traded their 2024 second-round pick for Montez Sweat. A highly successful move, Sweat now needs someone to help keep teams from doubling or tripling pass blockers on him. They need another pass rush force.

At No. 75 you usually won't find someone who helps immediately but the Rams last year drafted two Round 3 pass rushers who ranked in the top three for rookie sacks.  it's not impossible.

The Bears didn't give themselves the chance.

Sure, Amegadjie seems to have extremely positive traits with those 36-inch-long-plus arms to ward off pass rushers, but the Bears already have an adequate left tackle and lack a No. 2 pass rusher.

"Yeah, you love the tools that he has," Poles said of Amegadjie. "His pass pro is really good. Love his length, hand usage. And a big man that we believe is going to continue to get bigger and more explosive.

"So it should really increase the competition on our offensive line and make everyone better."

But Poles himself admits Amegadjie probably doesn't rate as a Year 1 starter.

The problem is they already had depth at tackle. Larry Borom is in the last year of his contract. They signed free agents Jake Curhan and Matt Pryor for depth pieces to battle with Borom.

The player signed in free agency as a pass rush equivalent was Jake Martin, an undersized 3-4 linebacker who has averaged three sacks a season.

They're setting themselves up for the same type of disappointment as last year simply because they had to stick to their draft board.

The Falcons took edge rusher Bralen Trice just before the Bears selected, but this doesn't mean it was the only option available. Oregon's Brandon Dorlus was available and a player about the size of Walker. Having a replacement just like Walker at the right defensive end for the rotation doesn't seem like a bad move.

Dorlus was second-fastest defensive end in the combine. He also can slide inside to tackle, especially in pass rush situations, so he seems ideally suited to what the Bears would use him for in Year 1.

Poles offered up free agency as a way they could get pass rush help. They're down to $10 million in available cash.

Dorlus is still there on the boards today in Round 4 but the Bears will be picking far too late in the round to do anything about it, unless they borrow from next year and move up in their position because it's their final pick.

So the question begs: At what price a draft board?

If they get to the regular season and start seeing the inevitable double teams on Sweat like the previous regime saw happen with Khalil Mack, they'll realize the price.

They're committing the same mistake they made last season.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven