Attention for Adam Trautman Only Hurting Bears' Chances

Dayton tight end Adam Trautman has been rising up the charts, so to speak, after the Senior Bowl work he put in. The Bears were one of the teams to talk with him but their interest can only be hurt by other teams taking a better look at Trautman

The NFL's draft process uncovers just about anyone with talent at some point and it's already working to expose one potential diamond in the rough who could have benfited the Bears.

He still could, obviously, but it's not going to happen the Bears might have liked.

According to reports from the Senior Bowl, the Bears had a talk there with Dayton tight end prospect Adam Trautman.

As a tight end from the non-scholarship Pioneer Football League, Trautman had to answer questions about how he'd do against better competition when he finally faced some at the Senior Bowl. Apparently Trautman handled it well because everyone raved about him.

ESPN's Todd McShay called Trautman "really something," and added, " The Dayton tight end has some jump after the catch. Keep an eye on him over the next few months."

Steve Muench, one of ESPN's draft analysists working the Senior Bowl, agreed.

He called Trautman "... a smooth route runner with above-average ball skills and good athletic ability for his size. His instincts and production after the catch stood out all week."

It's what Muench wrote after this is what can't make the Bears too happy:

"Trautman is looking like he might be in the Day 2 mix after an impressive showing in Mobile."

Profootballnetwork.com polled several scouts at the Senior Bowl and they talked about Trautman in a class with second-round talent.

ESPN's Mel Kiper rated Trautman the eighth-best tight end prospect overall.

For the Bears, the only way they're getting a Trautman is on Day 3 because they're unlikely to use a second-round pick on a tight end from Dayton and they don't have a third-round pick. Using a second-round pick on a tight end from a nonscholarship school wouldn't be unlike GM Ryan Pace spending one on a Division II tight end named Adam Shaheen.

Trautman told the Dayton Daily News he had confidence going in about matching up with players from top scholarship schools, but became all the more confident very quickly.

"After the first day I could feel it," he said. "I was like this is not a huge deal. And a few plays into the second practice I felt like I was one better players out there, one of the best players on the field on offense."

Trautman caught 70 passes for 916 yards and 14 touchdowns. He finished his four-year career with 178 catches, 2,295 yards and 31 TDs. But when you're playing against Drake, Butler and Valparaiso, the questions naturally had to be there.

If Trautman has indeed risen in the draft, it will be interesting to see who the Bears are talking to at the combine at the end of this month.

They've also spoken to two of the top tight ends in this draft class, Purdue's Brycen Hopkins and Vanderbilt's Jared Pinkney.

Notre Dame's Cole Kmet is the consensus top tight end pick in the draft but is likely to go in the first round and the Bears don't have a pick until No. 43 overall in Round 2.

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