NEWSLETTER
Florida State pass rusher Jared Verse is a name I’ve been seeing pop up in connection with the Chicago Bears a bunch in recent days.
And once I realized I was telling myself “hmm … that is an interesting trend” after the latest mention, there was no stopping me from writing this post.
Over at the Chicago Bears website, Larry Mayer shared a roundup of the latest mock drafts. Two of them include Verse as the Bears’ selection with the No. 9 pick. A third Verse mention pops up in Mel Kiper Jr.’s mock draft. In his latest iteration of the mock draft exercise, Kiper has Chicago choosing Washington wide receiver Rome Odunze. However, the long-time ESPN NFL Draft guru throws in the caveat to look for the Bears to target a pass-rusher if they can’t snag a wideout. Kiper goes on to mention Verse and UCLA’s Laiatu Latu as players who would be on deck if the Bears pass on selecting a receiver.
When it comes to these types of things this type of year, my brain operates in a way that compartmentalizes this stuff as once being luck and twice counts a coincidence, but three times represents a trend. And I can’t ignore trends this time of year. In fact, I share them to advance our conversations surrounding Chicago Bears football.
But it doesn’t stop there with Jared Verse and the Bears
Jordan Reid, one of Kiper’s teammates at ESPN, hears from an anonymous NFC scout who has quite the forecast for what the Bears’ future holds on draft night:
“I’d be shocked if they make that pick at nine,” an NFC area scout said. “(Bears GM Ryan) Poles loves to move around and build through the draft, and that roster still needs help in some spots.” Don’t be surprised if Chicago moves back, adds more draft capital and takes the best defensive end available wherever it lands. Laiatu Latu (UCLA) and Jared Verse (Florida State) are two options who would help off the edge in Chicago.
There goes that name again. Jared Verse. And because I’m in the business of highlighting trends, that counts as a second mention for Latu.
Also, we can take note of the trend of yet another NFL reporter hearing about the possibility of the Bears trading back. This is noteworthy because The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain also offers up both the possibility of trading back and drafting a highly rated defensive prospect as paths for General Manager Ryan Poles on Night 1 of the NFL Draft. Are you having fun yet? What if I mention that Jared Verse comes up again as Fishbain rattles off the projected top-ranked prospects on the defensive side of the ball who could be available for Chicago should it decide to trade down. The others include Alabama edge defender Dallas Turner and Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy.
For what it’s worth, Patrick also has Verse among his players to consider in the pick 10-20 range. And it will ultimately lead me to read into all of this information as being a sign of two things. Firstly, I’m seeing this as a sign that we should take Verse seriously as a Bears draft target. Secondly, trading back and drafting verse could be a tremendous value play for this team. Not only could it land a highly touted prospect at an impact position that also conveniently happens to be one of Bears’ biggest holes, but it could also net the team some much-needed draft capital. What a win that could be for Poles and his front office.
In late March, we explored what a Chicago Bears trade down could look like. And what do you know, Jared Verse comes up as the Bears draft target in a mock by The Athletic’s Ben Standig. At this point, Jared Verse’s name is inescapable. This isn’t to say that he will (or should) be the pick. It’s just that I can’t ignore the growing trend staring me in the face. It’s like an elephant in the room. But imagine the elephant has racked up at least 9 sacks and 10 tackles-for-loss in each of the last two seasons.
We’re headed down the stretch in our pre-draft coverage. This is the time of year when speculation starts to get more serious. For us, as fans, it means we should be keeping a closer eye on what the boots-on-the-ground reporters and league insiders are saying. So for me, as a fan and writer, this is usually a good time to make note when specific names begin trending. Stay tuned.
And if you see or hear Jared Verse come up in conversation, let me know. 😉
