Herbert Heating Up, More Mocks For Skoronski, Cards Get a New Look, and Other Bears Bullets
Last night’s Cubs game left me feeling like this team could be in the market for a bullpen arm if it is as competitive in May, June, and July as it has been in April. Even if they were to add an arm, Michael Fulmer needs to still figure it out. And soon. But, ideally, not in high-leverage situations.
- We’ll wake up a week from today ready to dive into which player Bears GM Ryan Poles chose with his first-ever first-round pick. That’s exciting to think about!
- Chris Emma (670 The Score) has a 10-pack of players the Bears could take with the No. 9 pick. It is mostly a familiar cast of characters who we’ve dug into here and there. But one name I’m ready to dig into more is Christian Gonzalez, the Oregon cornerback who has been popping up lately as a potential Bears target. It’s not as if we haven’t been thinking about the cornerback spot as a position of need. However, our focus has been more on Illinois’ Devon Witherspoon. I want to do some more fact-finding on Gonzalez and expand my thoughts in a post later today. But I wanted to put his name on our radar in Bullets to start our morning.
- How would you feel if Chicago’s secondary took the field with Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Christian Gonzalez (or Devon Witherspoon) at cornerback with Jaquan Brisker and Eddie Jackson at safety? Because I’d feel great with no reservations about the Bears’ secondary for the first time since 2018.
- Over at NBC Sports Chicago, Josh Schrock’s crystal ball has Tennessee right tackle Darnell Wright as the top player on the Bears’ big board. And I can see why:
- There has been ample buzz surrounding the Bears’ perceived interest in Wright in recent weeks. Understandably so, too. Not only does Chicago have offensive line needs, but their most glaring need also happens to be the right tackle position Wright excels in playing. It might be a stretch to take Wright at No. 9. However, taking a butt-kicking offensive lineman with a top-10 pick isn’t the worst use of draft assets.
- Add this mock draft to the pile of ones suddenly sending Northwestern offensive lineman Peter Skoronski to the Bears:
- Choosing Skoronski could send Bears Twitter into a tizzy. But if all things are equal, the Bears drafting an All-American offensive lineman who can start right away isn’t the worst thing that could happen. Is Skoronski a perfect prospect? No. But he is skilled and plays a position of need. Plus, he makes a strong case for being the best lineman prospect in this class. It wouldn’t surprise me if we look back at this draft in four years and Skoronski is the best of this bunch. Then again, I’d say the same about Georgia’s Broderick Jones, Ohio State’s Paris Johnson Jr., and even the aforementioned Wright.
- I wonder if mock drafters are sending Skoronski to Chicago because (1) he fits a need or (2) he plays locally and fits a need, so, therefore, is seen as a fit. In other words, would mock drafts connect Skoronski and the Bears if he played at USC or if he grew up in Florida? I don’t have an answer, but I am curious about what goes into mock draft gurus connecting dots.
- Allow me to co-sign this thought from DBB’s Andrew Dannehy, which also happens to be the title of this post — When it Comes to the Draft, Expect the Unexpected. The nature of the draft has us in that mindset in the first place. But bake in some other factors like this being just Poles’ second draft and the Bears’ many needs, it drives me to the conclusion that it would be silly to expect this team to do X, Y, and Z on draft weekend. If anything, I’m in a place where I’m expecting the team to do Q, J, and Ñ. Let’s get weird, baby!
- I’m very much here for the K Herbo nickname sticking:
- Remember that eight-game in-season stretch when Herbert ran it 95 times for 560 yards and scored 4 total touchdowns? Herbert was averaging 5.89 yards per carry during that extended run. And if you were to extrapolate those numbers over a full 17-game season, it comes out to a 202-carry, 1,190-yard, 6-touchdown season. I’d love to see Herbert get more burn as a pass-catcher. Here’s hoping that is something he is working on during the offseason.
- These new Cardinals uniforms are mostly underwhelming…
- … but we’ll see them in one of these outfits when they travel to Soldier Field to play the Bears later this year.
- The latest from BN’s NFL Mock Draft. (BN NFL)
- Not that you were needing a reminder, but Michael Jordan reigns supreme:
- This feels wrong on so many levels:
- It is never too early for a Shohei Ohtani trade watch:
