Bear Digest

A Rising Defender the Chicago Bears Absolutely Must Study at Combine

If the Super Bowl showed anything it's how poorly staffed the Bears are at defensive tackle and one new mock draft sees a rising potential pick for them after a productive Senior Bowl.
Gene Chamberlain|
Texas Tech defensive tackle Lee Hunter shows up as Round 1 material after the Senior Bowl, and could be on Bears radar.
Texas Tech defensive tackle Lee Hunter shows up as Round 1 material after the Senior Bowl, and could be on Bears radar. | Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

In this story:

Chicago Bears

The impact of Senior Bowl practices often alters the draft landscape.

It did for Pro Football Focus analyst Trevor Sikkema. It's also apparent the success of Super Bowl teams may have had an impact because both became apparent when Sikkema assessed who the Bears would pick at No. 25 in Round 1 of his post-Super Bowl mock draft.

The need for the Bears to add a run stopper has been apparent all year but the play in the Super Bowl of both interior defensive lines shows even moreso what is necessary to help get Chicago to the next level. Sikkema found one, and he found a rising one at that.

At No. 25 he had the Bears draft Lee Hunter from Texas Tech.

"Hunter made a case for the prospect who had the best overall week at the Senior Bowl," Sikkema wrote. "He was impactful in team drills and one-on-ones as a run stopper and a pass rusher."

Sikkema produced PFF analytics supporting this, but those grades are highly subjective and come against a slate of opponent only comparable to teams in the Big 12.

College analytics isn't as dependable or consistent, but the Senior Bowl workouts are.

What is interesting to note here is the widening of the elite level defensive tackle talent pool. Until this, Hunter had been considered a borderline first-round pick and in most cases an early second-round choice. Florida's Caleb Banks and Ohio State's Kayden McDonald had been considered the next defensive tackle picks after the top defensive tackle, Clemson's Peter Woods.

The NFL Mock Draft Data Base has Hunter as second-round material. Mel Kiper Jr. did have Hunter as his fourth-best defensive tackle prospect. ESPN's analysts seemed divided on Hunter. However, Matt Miller ranks Hunter No. 1 ahead of Woods, Banks and McDonald. ESPN analyst Stephen Muench has him as No. 2. But ESPN's Field Yates doesn't even put Hunter in the top five.

Those ESPN opinions were all formed prior to the Senior Bowl, though. Pro Football Network's mock draft has come up with the same name Sikkema did for the Bears.

Hunter's 32 tackles for loss, with 7 1/2 sacks, shows he can provide the interior push necessary to get in the QB's face as well as disrupt run blocking schemes.

At 6-foot-4, 330, he's heavier than ideal for past Dennis Allen defensive schemes but his athletic ability needs to show up at the combine if the Bears consider him. This is a defining trait of defensive tackles in Allen's scheme because they need to be versatile, possibly even interchangeable.

It's another name to watch in Indianapolis for the Bears, who badly need defensive tackle help with Chris Williams and Andrew Billings about to enter free agency. Gervon Dexter enters a contract year still playing poorly against the run by PFF grades and Grady Jarrett was steady once got past a knee injury but will be 33 years old next season.

The Bears can't have another season ranking near the bottom of the league against the run and need to supplement their edge rush with an interior push.

More Chicago Bears News

Published | Modified
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.