2023 NFL Draft: Bears bolster both sides of the ball in USA Today’s 3-round mock draft

The 2023 NFL Draft hot stove will reach blazing temperatures over the next few weeks. The NFL Combine kicks off on February 27, and informal meetings between NFL general managers and agents come with it. Free-agent rumors will fly, as will the draft stock of prospects who run fast and jump high.

As a result, the 2023 mock draft landscape will undergo a massive shift. Players projected as first-rounders now may not be in the top 32 in early March. The opposite is true, too. Prospects who usually appear in the second and even third rounds of mock drafts will elevate into the late-first-round discussion.

For the Chicago Bears, the NFL Combine won’t change much about their draft strategy. General manager Ryan Poles will still be expected to trade the No. 1 overall pick, even if Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr. or Georgia’s Jalen Carter steals the show. The best thing that could happen for the Bears is a great showing by this year’s quarterback prospects. It’ll enhance the value of the first pick and make quarterback-needy teams even more desperate to move up.

In the latest 2023 NFL Mock Draft by USA Today’s Luke Easterling, the Chicago Bears make a draft-day trade with one of those quarterback-starved teams, the Indianapolis Colts. They slide down to No. 4 and still land Jalen Carter, who many analysts believe is the best non-quarterback in the 2023 draft.

“This is an ideal scenario for the Bears, who get additional draft picks to move down a few spots and still end up with one of the prospects they could have happily taken at No. 1 overall,” Easterling wrote. “Carter is a disruptive force at the point of attack, and would make an immediate impact for a defensive front desperate for playmakers.”

Bears land promising offensive tackle in 2nd round

In Easterling’s mock draft, the Chicago Bears land Ohio State offensive tackle Dawand Jones in the second round with the pick they received from the Indianapolis Colts (No. 35). It’s the kind of selection that magnifies how important it is for the Bears to trade out of the No. 1 selection.

Adding players like Jalen Carter and Jones with their first two selections immediately levels up the offensive and defensive lines. It’s the kind of roster-building philosophy that leads to annual playoff runs and contention in January. Football purists advocate for building the trenches through the draft, and if Easterling’s mock draft comes to fruition, the Chicago Bears will take two of the weakest areas of their roster and flip them into strengths almost instantly.

Bears bolster pass rush with second second-round pick

At No. 53, the pick the Chicago Bears acquired from the Baltimore Ravens in the Roquan Smith trade, Easterling has Ryan Poles selecting Kanas State edge rusher Felix Anudike-Uzomah.

Here’s what NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein wrote about Anudike-Uzomah:

“A hard-charging edge prospect, Anudike-Uzomah has good strength and a long frame that should continue to fill out. His run defense is unrefined and in need of better fundamentals, but he’s clearly gone to school on his pass-rush approach, adding several new wrinkles to his attack in 2022. His urgency leads to playmaking opportunities, but he will need to harness that energy and play with better control to become a more efficient defender. There is more polish needed, but Anudike-Uzomah’s NFL rush potential should eventually make him an NFL starter.”

The Bears have to address the pass rush at some point in the 2023 draft, and if they miss out on Will Anderson Jr. in the first round, adding a prospect like Anudike-Uzomah in Round 2 would make sense. Coach Matt Eberflus will like Anudike-Uzomah’s play intensity, making him a legitimate Chicago Bears target in the draft.

Chicago Bears add a versatile wide receiver in third round

It’s difficult imagining a scenario in which the Bears don’t add a wide receiver to the roster in the first three rounds of the 2023 NFL Draft. In Easterling’s mock draft, they spend their third-round pick on Tennesse’s underrated pass-catcher, Cedric Tillman.

Tillman is being overlooked because of an injury-riddled season that limited him to just six games in 2022. Add the fact that his Volunteers teammate Jalin Hyatt is receiving first-round buzz, and it’s easy to understand why Tillman is coming off the board this late in mock drafts.

The NFL combine could be where Cedric Tillman’s stock begins to climb. He combines very good size (6’3, 215 pounds) with enough speed and athleticism to feel good about his projection as a legitimate NFL wide receiver. He may never ascend to the top of a team’s pass-catching pecking order, but there’s no doubt he profiles as a good WR2 in the pros.

If the Bears exit Day 2 with Jalen Carter, Dawand Jones, Felix Anudike-Uzomah, and Cedric Tillman, fans will celebrate a job well done by Ryan Poles.

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