What to do with 9th pick? Bears to eye receivers, pass rushers and left tackles

Jay LaPrete/AP

The Bears have spent months studying the draft.

They’ll spend the next one plotting what could happen.

General manager Ryan Poles plans to break his staff into various teams over the next few weeks as the Bears prepare to draft four times in late April. Their goal — to determine what position would have the most impact when they draft ninth overall.

The Bears hold the No. 1 overall pick and are expected to draft USC quarterback Caleb Williams first. They also have the 11th pick of the third round and the 22nd pick of the fourth round.

The No. 9 pick, though, gives the Bears a chance to land a Day 1 starter.

“What we’ve done in free agency allows us to be flexible,” coach Matt Eberflus said this week at the NFL’s annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. “To really be able to take the best player, the one we feel fits for us in that spot.”

The Bears will run simulations, with executives and coaches split into teams, to try to figure out exactly who fits best.

“One team is going to talk about, ‘The tackle position is the best to go after’ [or] ‘the wide receiver’s the best’ [or] ‘the defensive end’s the best.’ — and use factual information to kinda spit that out,” Poles said. “And we’ll have a debate in terms of what’s more impactful for our football team, short-term and long-term.”

All three groups will have an argument.

Drafting a left tackle would be the best gift the Bears give Williams, who at 6-1, 217 pounds knows he’ll be subject to a physicality he never saw in college. The Bears have given just a tepid endorsement of incumbent Braxton Jones.

“I do believe he’s a starting left tackle,” Poles said in January. “But if it comes down to a situation to increase competition and that’s what’s best for us, then we’ll do that.”

Notre Dame’s Joe Alt is considered the best prototypical left tackle in the draft; offensive line coach and run game coordinator Chris Morgan attended his pro day last week.

Penn State’s Olu Fashanu, who’s expected to go in the top half of the draft, would fit Williams even better — the two have been friends since playing football together at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, D.C.

Eberflus attended Oregon State tackle Taliese Fuaga’s pro day earlier this month. Fuaga profiles as a right tackle, though; drafting him would prompt the Bears to move standout Darnell Wright to the left side.

The Bears have yet to add a pass-rusher to play opposite star Montez Sweat. They could seek out a veteran on a prove-it deal — likely after the draft — but that didn’t work last year when Yannick Ngakoue gave them four sacks for $10.5 million. The alternative is to draft a pass-rusher ninth, be it Alabama’s Dallas Turner or Florida State’s Jared Verse. Amazingly, the Bears could take the first defensive player in the draft at No. 9.

They can talk about never having enough edge rushers all they want, but the franchise has drafted only one edge rusher in Round 1 since 2013: Leonard Floyd.

“It’s important that we get that piece because you have to have the 1-2 punch,” Eberflus said. “It can be [at defensive tackle] as well. You look at who affects the quarterback the most, I would argue that the inside piece is something we should be looking at and it’s important that we do that. Direct line to the quarterback. When they max protect it’s a soft spot in the protection.

“So we’re looking at all pass rushers. It can be inside, outside all along the line. We’re having an open mind in that regard.”

Then there’s the receiver position, which boasts three stars — Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison, LSU’s Malik Nabers and Washington’s Rome Odunze — who could all be drafted before the Bears pick at No. 9.

Trading for the Chargers’ Keenan Alllen takes pressure off the Bears to draft a receiver to play opposite DJ Moore. But drafting a receiver would give the Bears one of the most dangerous rooms in the NFL – and allow Williams to grow with someone his age.

“To me, it’s always about affecting the quarterback or helping the quarterback,” Eberflus said. “It comes down to those two questions.”

Poles could always trade the No. 9 pick to move back and add more draft selections. It’s a good year to have fewer picks than normal, though — the draft isn’t considered nearly as deep as in recent years.

“A lot of guys went back to school this year,” Poles said. “I think you’re going to see a significant drop off. … The way we’re set up in the draft this year actually pairs up really well with how I think it’s going to play out.”