Last-Minute Mock Drafts Guide Bears to Cole Kmet
A final look around at the last-minute mock drafts shows a turn toward Cole Kmet for the Bears with one of their second-round picks.
Josh Edwards from CBSsports.com did a final two-round mock and had the Bears taking Kmet at No. 43, even though they had him graded at No. 62 among all prospects. And Edwards went where he shouldn't have gone and compared the 6-foot-6, 262-pounder to Gronk. That's what they were saying about Adam Shaheen.
With his second Bears pick at No. 50, Reuter had the Bears turning to cornerback and a name few have mentioned so prominently in the draft: Virginia's Bryce Hall. At 6-1, 202, Hall is ideal size and has speed but he is coming off an ankle injury that ended his season. Still, this wouldn't keep Ryan Pace from drafting him as he ignored the broken bone Eddie Jackson had and drafted him in Round 4.
Vinne Iyer of TheSportingNews.com has also matched the Bears up with Cole Kmet in a last-second mock at No. 50.
It's the first pick where he made an error. He had the Bears select Utah cornerback Jaylon Johnson at No. 43 which is fine, except he left Denzel Mims on the board to do it. Mims fell all that way and he had the Bears ignore him for Johnson.
Iyer and all of those with last-minute mocks seem to forget the Bears have a drastic need for speed at wide receiver. All three of these mocks failed to put a single receiver in the Bears' draft cache.
Mims ran a 4.38-second 40, verified at the combine. He has good hands and also goes vertical with the best of them. Mims was extremely productive in college. He made 186 catches for a 15.7-yard average with 28 touchdowns. They put Mims on the field with Allen Robinson II and Anthony miller and a tight end and that field opens up wide. It's doubtful Mims could fall that far, though.
CBSsports.com's Chad Reuter pins down two players at need positions but also ignores the wide receiver need and does it through a full seven rounds.
He landed Cesar Ruiz, the Michigan guard, at No. 43 and Southern Illinois safety Jeremy Chinn at No. 50. If you're going to leave the Bears without wide receivers here, at least he found two positions where they could use help.
The trouble is, Reuter also failed to get the Bears a player at possibly their greatest need area—cornerback.
At 163 he has them ignore Wisconsin wide receiver Quintez Cephus to take Minnesota edge Carter Coughlin, who seems like a bit of a reach here.
In Round 5 at No. 196, he has them select Louisiana lineman Robert Hunt and ignore a sliding Devin Duvernay, the Texas wide receiver who was a sprint champion.
At No. 200 he took another edge player, Virginia Tech's Trevon Hill. In four seasons, Hill made 16 sacks.
In Round 7 Reuter took running back Jason Huntley of New Mexico State. The Bears do need an extra all-purpose running back, although it's likely at this point they'd use the pick for some other need.
With the final pick the Bears selected defensive tackle Josh Avery of Southeast Missouri State to try and plug the gap caused by Nick Williams' departure.
See the adjoining video for my final Bears mock, Mock 5.0.
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