The Chicago Bears are in the midst of an important offseason where general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson are focused on shoring up the roster at key positions of need.
After overhauling the offensive line and adding key skill players to the mix on offense last offseason, the focus will be on bolstering the defensive roster, most notably in the trenches at defensive tackle and edge rusher, as well as safety (with two starting jobs to fill). While the Bears have picked in the Top 10 for the last few years, they’ll have to wait until later in the first round at 25th overall to make a selection to shore up a key need.
In a new mock draft from NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah, the Bears shore up the defensive trenches with the selection of Clemson defensive tackle Peter Woods with the 25th pick.
“Teams seem to be all over the map on how they rank this year’s defensive tackles,” Jeremiah wrote. “Woods probably is the most explosive of the group and brings some juice on the interior.”
For the most part, mock drafts have the Bears targeting an interior defensive lineman or edge rusher (and occasionally a safety) with their first-round selection. As far as interior linemen go, everyone from Kayden McDonald to Caleb Banks to Lee Hunter to Woods have been mocked to Chicago. At the end of the day, if defensive tackle is the route, it’ll come down to how the Bears have those top defensive tackles ranked.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears land top defensive tackle in Daniel Jeremiah’s latest mock draft
Reporting by Alyssa Barbieri, Bears Wire / Bears Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
