Chicago Bears mock draft

2023 NFL Mock Draft: Chicago Bears land elite defensive tackle in 1st-round trade

If the 2022 NFL season has made anything clear for the Chicago Bears, it’s this: they are in terrible shape on both sides of the trenches. Their pass rush is nonexistent, and their pass protection is so bad I can’t choose the right word to describe it.

Shoring up the lines was my main priority in this mock draft, created using PFF’s mock draft simulator. I made just one trade, sending the second overall pick to the Indianapolis Colts in return for the fifth overall pick, a second-rounder, a 2024 second-rounder, and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner.

Reuniting Buckner with Matt Eberflus just makes too much sense. One of the best 3-techs in the league, Buckner would immediately take this defensive line lightyears ahead of where it is now. At age 28, he’d inject veteran leadership into a defense that badly needs it.

Now let’s look at how the rest of the draft shook out.

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