The Bears Are Doing a Ton of Homework on the NFL Draft’s Top Offensive Line Prospects
If there is one thing I’m taking away from the early part of the Ryan Poles era, it is that his regime is thorough as heck.
And that trait is showing itself once again ahead of the NFL Draft in the team’s approach toward getting to know the best available offensive linemen. Here’s a list of who the Bears have met, or expect to meet, or have had their eyes on to this point:
- Broderick Jones, Georgia (via Jeremy Fowler)
- Paris Johnson Jr. Ohio State (Ryan Poles had a front-row seat at PJJ’s OSU pro day)
- Peter Skoronski, Northwestern (Bears were rolling deep at NU’s pro day)
- Jaelyn Duncan, Maryland (via Ryan Fowler)
- Ilm Manning, Hawaii (via Justin Melo)
- Ricky Stromberg, Arkansas (via Stadium)
- Jordan McFadden, Clemson (via Ryan Roberts)
- Darnell Wright, Tennessee (via Ian Rapoport)
Considering (1) the team’s need to address offensive line holes and (2) importance of plugging those gaps adequately, I’d like to applaud the Bears for their efforts here. Sure, this is the stuff good teams do. And at some point, I’d like for this to become the norm for this team. HOWEVER, I know better than to take something simple for granted. To be clear, I’m not throwing the Bears a parade for doing their job. And I’m not hosting an intergalactic kegger for doing the minimum. But it is still nice to know that they’re digging deep. My hope that this becomes the norm around these parts.
And to think, this could be just the beginning. Keep in mind that not all top 30 visits will be made public. Additionally, there will be local visits that won’t count toward the top 30 visits. Even still … this is a strong start for the Bears as they go on the hunt for O-line help.
