Bear Digest

Ten Senior Bowl Players to Watch for Chicago Bears

The quarterbacks in the Senior Bowl will be obvious points of interest to the Bears but there are plenty of other spots they need help and here are some of the participating players they might find of interest based on the week's Senior Bowl reports.
Gene Chamberlain|
Ten Senior Bowl Players to Watch for Chicago Bears
Ten Senior Bowl Players to Watch for Chicago Bears

With a first-round draft pick for the first time since 2018, the Bears can look with interest at numerous positions during Saturday's Senior Bowl.

While the quarterbacks have been featured and discussed here earlier, the only real first-round passer playing is Mac Jones. 

LOOK: The daily reports on all the positions from this week's Senior Bowl workouts.

So it's time to take a look at other players they might find of interest at need positions.

Not all of the best players come to the Senior Bowl simply because the better ones don't need to, but it helps those hoping to enhance their draft position.

Because it's an all-star game there is often a gap or two they don't cover at niche positions. For instance, while there are plenty of good cornerbacks, there is a shortage of proven top slot cornerback prospects in the game. The Bears could really use one of those.

Here are 10 players for the Bears to watch besides quarterbacks on NFL Network Saturday at 1:30 p.m. when this game kicks off.

T Alex Leatherwood

Leatherwood hasn't had a bad reports from practices but he won measurement day in a rout. At 6-foot-5, 312 pounds this Alabama lineman has the size to be a left or right tackle. The better measurements for a left tackle were his 34 3/8-inch arms and huge wingspan of 85 3/8 inches. He had a few ups and downs in the practices, but mostly ups.

T James Hudson

A late producer at tackle but for a good reason. This 6-foot-4 1/2, 302-pounder from Cincinnati started out at Michigan and was a defensive player but was moved to tackle at Cincinnati and seems a natural for the position because he excelled with only one season of experience there. With 11-inch hands and an 82-inch wingspan, he has two gifts any tackle needs. He just needs to add weight, but it hasn't seemed to hurt at the Senior Bowl practices, according to scouts.

T Robert Hainsey

Reports from Senior Bowl practices have said Hainsey has been among the most consistent linemen. He took snaps at both tackle and guard. At 6-foot-4, 302 pounds, he probably isn't the ideal size for a right tackle but the Bears are in need of a left tackle, too. They've already seen the Notre Dame work ethic in play at Halas Hall with Sam Mustipher and Alex Bars. Hainsey has been part of it, as well.

Dillon Radunz 

North Dakota State isn't playing the highest level of competition but did have two standouts in Radunz at left tackle and QB Trey Lance. Pro Football Focus' Mike Renner has labeled Radunz among his "big winners" in Senior Bowl practices. The 6-5, 304-pounder displayed expertise with his technique throughout one on one. Seeing his physicality in run blocking will be important.

WR/RB Demetric Felton

The Bears could need a slot receiver if they part ways with Anthony Miller, and they could need third-down back if Tarik Cohen hasn't recovered all of his skills by training camp after ACL surgery. This 5-foot-9, 189-pound UCLA back is roughly Cohen's size and caught 99 passes while averaging 5.1 yards per rushing attempt. Senior Bowl reports all week have raved about his versatility. He'd be a weaon Matt Nagy could use.

WR D'Wayne Eskridge

Watch to see if the Western Michigan wide receiver creates separation on deep routes or turns the underneath routes into wild chases because all projections are he has the 4.3-second 40 speed and it translates well to actual play on the field. There could be a question whether he plays because those attending said he didn't practice on Thursday after making an impact earlier in the week.

WR Nico Collins

If Allen Robinson's time really is through with the Bears, they'll need an "X" receiver in the offense and this Michigan receiver is a possible alternative. At 6-foot-4, Collins' verticality isn't questioned. Scouts want to see if he can run routes well enough to shake free on slants and skinny posts, and explosiveness out of the cuts. There hasn't been enough of this in practices so the game offers another chance.

WR Kadarius Toney

If the Bears are unable to select a quarterback in Round 1, they would be fortunate enough to have Toney available at 20 or to move up and take Florida's explosive threat. Reports from Mobile, Ala. have said defensive backs there find him unguardable. At 5-foot-11, 198, Toney has been too fast and too sharp with his routes for them. He would be a perfect slot receiver to replace Anthony Miller and his speed combined with Darnell Mooney's would have defenses backing off in fear all day long.

S Damar Hamlin

A solid all-around safety from Pitt who plays physical but isn't a standard in-the-box type at 201 pounds. The Bears need someone physical but who can get back in coverage. Eddie Jackson is once again the only Bears safety fom the 53-man roster with a contract and this is a position they'll either upgrade or continue this habit of signing low-cost veterans.

S Richie Grant

One of three finalists for the Thorpe Award, he has shown scouts the Senior Bowl competition hasn't been above his skill level despite the fact he played at Central Florida. His strength is being able to cover all over the secondary, as his 10 career interceptions indicate, but at 5-11 1/2, 200, he was physical enough in college with 290 tackles, including 258 in his final three years.

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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.

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