A Trend Developing in Mocks for Bears
One more day and more mock drafts put Teven Jenkins in Chicago.
The dean of the NFL Draft gurus, Mel Kiper, released a two-round mock draft on Tuesday and the Oklahoma State right tackle made too much sense for the Bears at No. 20 so he was the pick.
"This is a no-brainer pick for the Bears," Jack Borowsky wrote. "Jenkins is a Day-1 starter at right tackle and he is the best run blocker in the draft."
It's hard to argue with that logic.
Kiper didn't.
"Jenkins is the last of four offensive tackles on whom I have first-round grades," Kiper said. "A three-year starter at right tackle for Oklahoma State, he's outstanding in the run game."
Jenkins earlier in the week was named a Bears pick by CBS Sports' Ryan Wilson in another mock.
The other three tackles Kiper had selected already when the Bears took Jenkins were Oregon's Penei Sewell to the Bengals at No. 5, Northwestern's Rashawn Slater to the Chargers at No. 13 and Virginia Tech's Christian Darrisaw at No. 14 to the Minnesota Vikings.
As a special side to Jenkins going to the Bears in two more mocks, the odds makers at SportsBettingDime.com have also named Jenkins a likely Bears pick. They conducted their own mock draft of sorts, assigning players based on over/under draft props being bet at the major sports books.
They reported they had eight of the first 13 picks correct in last year's draft.
At No. 52 in Round 2 of his two-rounder, Kiper had the Bears pass on a cornerback they've shown some interest in, Florida State's Asante Samuel Jr. Instead, they went for the speed at receiver and drafted Anthony Schwartz of Auburn, the man who ran the fastest 40-yard time in all of the pro days. He did a reported 4.26.
Two speedy receivers the Bears have shown interest in went slightly after this pick. Purdue's Rondale Moore went at No. 60 to New Orleans and Western Michigan's D'Wayne Eskridge, rising up the charts rapidly, was the 59th pick to Cleveland.
Quarterback Davis Mills of Stanford went to Washington right before Schwartz was chosen by the Bears.
NFL Draft Bible's seven-rounder included potential red flag cornerback Kelvin Joseph to the Bears in Round 2 at No. 52. The red flag seems an afterthought now. He was suspended for a team rule violation while with LSU in 2018 and missed the Fiesta Bowl, but then later transfered to Kentucky.
Until about three weeks ago, Joseph was considered a mid-round pick by many. His speed and more film review has apparently upped opinions on him as he was ranked fourth overall among cornerbacks in Kiper's revised positional rankings.
The Bears did get their slot receiver at No. 84 in Round 3 of NFL Draft Bible's mock, with Clemson's standout Amari Rodgers. While he's not quite the speed threat Eskridge, Moore or Kadarius Toney might be, he is fast and runs very smooth routes. He also is strong for a slot.
In Round 5 the choice at No. 165 was Buffalo outside linebacker Malcolm Koonce, who draws mixed recivews from scouts but fits in the Bears 3-4 as another edge rusher from Buffalo besides the two they already have named Mack—Khalil and his brother Ledarius.
The Bears have four sixth-round picks and those were: No. 205 inside linebacker Buddy Johnson of Texas A&M, No. 209 wide receiver Jalen Camp from Georgia Tech, defensive end Jonathan Cooper from Ohio State at No. 209 and defensive tackle Malik Herring from Georgia at No. 222.
The final pick of Herring is a bit of a "red herring" for the Bears. Herring suffered a torn ACL at the Senior Bowl and won't even play this year.
Cooper also has an injury past that keeps him from being an earlier pick. Draft Bible pointed out Camp was on the Bruce Feldman "freak list," over the summer and had an impressive pro day.
Johnson is a linebacker right out of the Nick Kwiatkoski mold, a two-down type.
READ: NFL Draft Bible's seven-round Bears mock draft, and other NFL mocks
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