The Ben Johnson era in Chicago has the city buzzing, and draft night fueled the hype train even more. Not every pick is gonna be a home run, we know Poles is far from perfect when it comes to drafting. However, he has hit on some pretty solid players and I think this year was no different. With Ben Johnson and his new coaching staff hopefully maximizing these rookie’s impact this could turn out to be a fruitful draft for the Bears.

The 10th pick of the draft was where the Bears stayed and decided to take who they thought was the best player on the board. Despite the many rumors of trading up or down, the only rumors to ring true were those of the Bears’ TE evaluations. When I heard the Bears valued Colston Loveland over Tyler Warren I was somewhat surprised since it seemed like Warren’s production and athleticism were pushing him up everyone’s draft boards all year. I think Loveland is a good fit for this scheme, and of course his stats should be taken with a massive grain of salt. He missed time due to injury this year in addition to being part of an offense that lacked a real quarterback or semblance or a forward passing game. On the national championship team, he was one of their most consistent and productive receivers in an offense that still didn’t throw the ball around a bunch. The reasons people didn’t see JJ McCarthy as a first round QB are the reasons they’re surprised about Loveland being the first TE off the board but here we are. I think Ben Johnson knows what he’s looking for in a TE and he can be an effective weapon in this offense for many years. Thumbs up on this pick.

This is, without a doubt, my favorite pick of the draft. With the 39th overall pick the Bears selected Luther Burden III out of Missouri. This guy has slot playmaker written all over him. I have full faith in Ben Johnson’s ability to maximize Burden’s skills in an offense that will put him along side two prolific playmakers in their own rights. It’s only year 2 for Rome Odunze so maybe I’m getting a little ahead of myself but this receiving corps has some huge potential. Burden thrived in an offense that got him the ball in space as often as possible, with other playmakers taking the focus away from him I can see him making a big time impact for the Bears early. Maybe he feels like a boom or bust type of pick that could end up underperforming, but why dwell on the negative? Huge thumbs up for this one.

The Bears used their 2nd pick of the 2nd round to address the need at tackle with Ozzy Trapilo. Now, I don’t think this guy is a surefire thing to be our franchise LT. Hell, I’d say it’s just as likely we see Darnell Wright try to swing over to the left side so big Ozzy can maul at RT like he did at Boston College. Unfortunately, it doesn’t feel like the Bears found an “answer” at LT but with Braxton Jones, a potential redemption arc for Kiran Amegadjie and now Trapilo or Wright, I think they’ll find a sufficient answer by the time the preseason rolls around. Ozzy is a road-grader in the run game and has some very fun highlights of running defenders over and getting up to the 2nd level in the BC run game. I would’ve loved to see the Bears get one of the top 3 tackles off the board, but it didn’t fall that way and I think this is a decent consolation prize. Thumb sideways on this one, hoping he proves me wrong.

Shemar Turner is an interesting pick and has huge boom or bust potential. He is massive at 6’4 and nearly 300 pounds, but has shown skill and athleticism off the edge as a pass rusher. Turner still projects as an interior DL but beefing up the trenches here is not a bad idea. I’m a fan of Andrew Billings and Gervon Dexter, but the depth Turner adds to that rotation is vital. Overall, I have high hopes for this guy to be a disruptive force as an interior pass rusher and I hope he develops as a consistent run stuffer as well. Tentative thumbs up for this pick.

The Day 3 picks are so important for an NFL team building a deep roster. Obviously you’re not going to find late round gems every year, but if you can find a solid contributor or two from those late rounds it can make a big difference. The Bears had some intriguing picks at the end of this year’s draft:

Ruben Hyppolite II has one of the coolest names ever, no doubt. Combine that with the fact that he’s arguably the fastest LB in this draft he becomes a very fun prospect to watch. His athleticism will make him an absolute weapon on special teams, but hopefully as he gains experience and learns to read offense’s a little better he could utilize that speed to be a real asset for the Bears’ defense.

An underrated need for the Bears is a true second boundary corner to play opposite Jaylon Johnson. Whether or not Zah Frazier will be as good as Johnson is a stretch, but if he’s not matching up against other teams’ best WRs he could fare well. He’s an older rookie at 24 almost 25 years old, and doesn’t have a ton of high-level college experience, but he shows good ball skills and field vision in zone coverage. His size and length allow him to play jump-balls well as well as helping him cover in man-to-man vertically.

Luke Newman is a tough interior OL who uses quickness and good feet to compensate for not being as strong as some of his competition. His technique was fairly critiqued by draft experts, and understandably I don’t have the most faith in the Bears to coach those flaws out of him. Hopefully he can add some competent depth to the interior OL, as the Bears heavily invested in that area in Free Agency this year ahead of the draft.

The last pick of the draft is one of the most intriguing. Kyle Monangai was a productive running back at Rutgers with a lot of rock-solid production. His size and running style have Bears fans seeing shades of David Montgomery. His ability to make guys miss hasn’t shown as much on tape as Monty’s did at Iowa State, but maybe that’s a result of Big 12 defense vs Big 10 defense. The stats tell a different story, as Monangai forced the most missed tackles in the Big 10 this year. Monangai can be a reliable back that uses vision and patience to maximize his yardage, as well as a guy who isn’t afraid to get dirty in pass protection. We’ve all heard about how the Bears tried to get other RBs throughout the draft, but I think adding Monangai to the group with Roschon Johnson and D’Andre Swift gives the Bears plenty to work with in the backfield.

So, I am overall happy with this year’s class and I’d probably grade it at a sound B. The Bears were looking to patch some needs as well as juice up that offense to help Caleb Williams take that next step along side Ben Johnson and I think they did just that. I’m so happy to be excited for Bears football again.