Bear Digest

2025 NFL Draft: Chicago Bears' first-round pick might be down to these 2 players

ESPN outlined every team's top need vs. value pick for the 2025 NFL Draft, and the Chicago Bears' pick might just be one of these two prospects.
Bryan Perez|
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ESPN NFL draft experts Matt Miller and Jordan Reid outlined every team's top need and value prospects in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and it feels like one of the two players identified for the Chicago Bears has a strong chance at becoming the team's pick at No. 10 overall.

Miller was charged with the Bears' biggest need, and it's no surprise that he chose running back. D'Andre Swift's underwhelming 2024 season has become a central focus in the final days before the 2025 NFL Draft, and, of course, former Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty was Miller's choice at No. 10.

"The Bears don't have many huge needs thanks to their aggressive spending this offseason, but they could use a boost at running back," Miller wrote. "Jeanty could team with D'Andre Swift and give new coach Ben Johnson a two-headed backfield similar to what he had in Detroit."

The idea that Johnson would have a backfield similar to David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs is a bit of a reach; Swift is far from serving the role of either of the Detroit Lions running backs. But Jeanty would give Johnson the kind of offensive weapon that would allow, as he likes to put it, the same things to look different and different things to look the same.

In many ways, Jeanty would be the value pick at No. 10 overall. The odds he slides that far in the first round aren't in the Chicago Bears' favor; he's one of the top three or four all-around prospects in the 2025 draft. So, if he's still on the board? The value -- and, sure, the need -- make him an obvious choice.

Reid was charged with the value pick for the Bears, and he continued the narrative that former Penn State tight end Tyler Warren is the kind of playmaker Chicago simply cannot pass up.

"I'll also go with another playmaker for Johnson's offense, and Warren brings the best value out of the remaining options," Reid wrote. "He would be dangerous in 12 personnel sets with veteran tight end Cole Kmet."

Poor Cole Kmet. One of the most important voices in the locker room and a quality all-around player is being (essentially) discarded because of Warren, who, sure, has a playmaking profile that Kmet doesn't. But, should a team really spend the 10th overall pick on a player at a position that feels pretty settled?

It seems odd to me, but the Warren momentum is very, very real.

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Bryan Perez
BRYAN PEREZ

Bryan Perez founded and operated Bears Talk, a Chicago sports blog. Prior to that, he covered the Bears for USA Today’s Bears Wire and NBC Sports Chicago. In addition to his Chicago Bears coverage, Perez is a respected member of NFL Draft media and was a past winner of The Huddle's Mock Draft competition. Bryan's past life includes time as a Northeast scout for the CFL's Ottawa Redblacks.

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