2025 NFL Mock Draft with a twist: Bears prioritize defense in wild first round

The latest 2025 mock draft from NFL.com offered an original spin on the first round, resulting in the Chicago Bears bolstering their defensive line.

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NFL mock drafts are officially in the rinse and repeat stage with less than 10 days before the 2025 NFL Draft kicks off. But every so often, a new mock draft comes across the landscape that makes fans stop and take notice.

In the latest mock draft from NFL.com analyst Adam Rank, we really took notice.

Rank published a 2025 mock draft focused on what he thinks each team should do in the first round. It breaks from the conventional mock draft style that tends to predict what will happen in Round 1.

Kudos to Rank for being bold.

And bold he was.

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Here's how the nine picks before the Chicago Bears went: 1) Cam Ward (Titans), 2) Abdul Carter (Browns), 3) Ashton Jeanty (Giants !!!), 4) Travis Hunter (Patriots), 5) Tyler Warren (Jaguars), 6) Jahdae Barron (Raiders), 7) Colston Loveland (Jets), 8) Matthew Goldon (Panthers), 9) Will Johnson (Saints).

So, let's get the obvious out of the way: there's no chance that the first nine picks will fall this way. At least, they shouldn't. Sure, the NFL Draft is a crapshoot that can quickly go off the rails, but Rank's mock draft has four players in the top 10 that rarely, if ever, appear that high on most mock drafts.

Again, Kudos to Rank. Stick to your board.

And if the first round does fall this way, the Bears end up with former Michigan defensive lineman Mason Graham.

"Widely mocked in the top five, Graham could go as early as No. 3 overall, if the Giants choose to build in the trenches," Rank wrote. "But if he fell this far, he'd be the perfect pick for you, Chicago -- he looks like he was born to be a Bear. He, Grady Jarrett and Andrew Billings could join to form the best defensive line rotation in the NFL. Note that I didn't insult Braxton Jones, whom I love as a Bears fan, by giving you tackle Will Campbell. With two picks early in the second round (Nos. 39 and 41), there is time to add O-line depth."

As wild as this 2025 mock draft is, and as much as the draft industry predicts Graham will be a top-five pick, I do have some reservations about his draft grade. There's no doubt he's one of the fun players in this class; he's a barrel-bodied defensive lineman with a motor that rivals the energizer bunny. He just keeps going and going. But he has some red flags, namely his length, that suggest he could have a harder time making plays in the NFL than he did in college.

Still, Graham is a top-10 player in the class. He'd be a fantastic first-round pick. And a slide to the Chicago Bears could be more realistic than the masses think.

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