Mel Kiper Jr. Sees Possible Bears Double-Down

A year goes by and you forget how much energy Mel Kiper Jr. brings to the NFL draft every year, and how much enthusiasm he can generate.

The ESPN dean of draft experts joined AM-1000s Tom Waddle and Mark Silverman on Thursday and fired up a big chunk of air time with positive energy about where the Bears are picking and who they can get, even if he calls this a bad draft overall.

"This is a draft where you better do your homework, do your due diligence, pick the right players, because this is not a deep draft," Kiper told Waddle & Silvy. "It's not a strong draft. It's a weak draft."

But it's not as weak if you're the Bears because they need a defensive tackle, they pick No. 1 and Jalen Carter is there. Kiper has called Carter the player who should go No. 1 to the Bears in his mock draft and sticks by this.

Kiper challenged some of the back-talkers who saw Carter as a bit lazy at times and pointed out he even played with both knee and ankle injuries this season when he didn't need to because his draft status was cemented.

"He didn't wait (to return), he already had a national title," Kiper told Waddle & Silvy. "He had an ankle and a knee in September. So you've got to give the guy a lot of credit for that."

However, Kiper saw an option for the Bears at the position if they decided to move down beyond the top four or five. He is also very high on Pitt DT Calijah Kancey.

"Go watch his tape, you gotta love this kid," Kiper said. "I mean, he is in the backfield before you can blink, he plays hard, he's got that low center of gravity."

It sounds like Kancey would be an ideal pick as a three-technique. He is more the size of Aaron Donald at 280 pounds than Carter at 300 pounds.

Kiper had basically two other major positive points Bears fans will love. The first is how they really could come away with the dream scenario. That would be a double-trade down.

It's the kind of far-fetched thing that doesn't happen often but Kiper sees this as a year it could and it all revolves around how Houston or Indianpolis rate the quarterbacks.

"And they say we can't allow Vegas or Carolina or somebody else to jump to 3 (trading) with Arizona and get that quarterback, so we've got to go up and get that guy," Kiper said.

In that case, the Bears could commit highway robbery and trade down to No. 2 or 4 and then if another team back farther needs one of the top three quarterbacks remaining they could move back yet again to gain even more picks.

However it is going to be against the Bears' best interest if teams have all three of the top QBs—Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and Will Levis—rated similar like in 2004, when Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers and Eli Manning came out, or even 2020 when Justin Herbert, Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa were strong candidates.

Possibly the best news Bears fans could get was how Kiper thinks Justin Fields is not someone who should be traded in this draft.

"To me, there is no quarterback in this draft better than Justin Fields."

Y’all be eating crayons https://t.co/iHaO9f1Pn8
— Raul Bennington (@black_42) January 26, 2023

Kiper said not only is Fields better than any of the quarterbacks in this draft, he's better than Caleb Williams of USC in the 2024 draft.

"I would say they've got to feel pretty good with where they are," he said of the Bears having Fields at QB.

Thinking back to the 2021 draft, he added, "I had Justin right behind Trevor Lawrence."

KIPER ON WADDLE AND SILVY

While Kiper still thinks Chase Claypool will prove a good target for Fields, he pointed to potential steals later in the draft this year at this position as possible targets for teams trying to build up their receiver corps.

Kiper called Boston College's Zay Flowers the "best value," for a receiver. He called both Michael Jefferson of Louisiana and Jason Brownlee of Southern Mississippi Day 3 steals at receiver, and Rashee Rice another receiver who will be worthwhile for any team.

Because of the weak overall field for this draft, Kiper predicts uncertainty in the process for a few months to come and the combine, all-star games and pro days will be critical.

"This is a year where you're not going to make up your mind up on a lot of these kids until April," Kiper said.

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