Bears insider projects surprising pick for Chicago in new 2025 NFL Mock Draft

The 2025 NFL mock draft cycle is slowly coming to a close, but in the most recent projection by a respected Bears insider, Chicago makes a puzzling pick.

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The wait for the 2025 NFL Draft is nearly over, but as the first round inches closer, Chicago Bears fans are left to cycle through the final series of mock drafts that, believe it or not, tend to have the most relevance.

All of the prospect workouts and visits are (basically) finished. All of the tape (for the most part) has been watched. And teams' big boards are (almost) complete. As a result, NFL mock drafts have more value, especially when they're constructed by respected team insiders.

And that's the case for the latest 2025 Bears mock draft from the Chicago Tribune's Brad Biggs, who, for my money, is the most well-connected insider on the beat. Biggs published his second first-round mock draft of the season, and his selection for the Bears is a return to the narrative that existed back in January: Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr.

"In the Bears’ bid to rebuild the offensive line, there wasn’t a left tackle to pursue in free agency once Ronnie Stanley re-signed in Baltimore," Biggs wrote. "They want competition for the position, and with Braxton Jones coming off ankle surgery and Kiran Amegadjie’s skill unknown, a left tackle for the future would make sense if they really want to build from the inside out. Maybe No. 10 is a little high for Banks, and it’s worth wondering if the Bears could trade down and still grab him."

Banks has been somewhat forgotten by Bears fans as a viable option for GM Ryan Poles in the first round. He didn't have the kind of 2024 season that many projected for him, which, in August, suggested he'd be a top-five pick. But he does have first-round traits, and if the Chicago Bears feel good about his projection as a left tackle in the NFL (some teams view him as a guard), he's very much in play at No. 10 overall.

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However, I agree with Biggs' conclusion that Banks is probably more of a mid-to-late first-round pick; a player the Chicago Bears can target in a trade-down scenario. But for the Bears to be in a position to make a trade, a player like QB Shedeur Sanders has to slide to the 10th pick, which, in Biggs' mock, doesn't happen.

Sanders goes to the New Orleans Saints at No. 9 overall.

It would be a frustrating sequence of events for the Chicago Bears, who'd be starting at a 10th pick with Will Campbell (OT, LSU), Armand Membou (OT, Missouri), and Ashton Jeanty (RB, Boise State) all off the board.

It's worth noting that Penn State tight end Tyler Warren, a prospect who's gaining momentum as a potential Bears target, falls to the Indianapolis Colts at No. 14 overall. Biggs has the Chicago Bears passing on Warren for Banks, and that matters. If his intel suggested Warren was a must-have for Poles and his team of decision-makers, there's no way he'd drop past No. 10.

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