NEWSLETTER
The biggest football game of the weekend isn’t being played on an NFL field this weekend.
Instead, this weekend’s biggest football game is being played in the collegiate ranks and it pits the Alabama Crimson Tide against the Georgia Bulldogs.
But rest assured, there will be a whole bunch of pro talent on display.
And you better believe Chicago Bears General Manager Ryan Poles will be there:
Jim Nagy, who is the Executive Director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl, tweets that Poles and his Detroit Lions counterpart (Brad Holmes) are the only two general managers who are scheduled (as of now) to be in attendance at Georgia-Alabama. There are scouts from 16 teams (the Bears are included in this mix) who are also slated to watch the No. 4 Crimson Tide play host to the No. 2-ranked Bulldogs.
This marks the first matchup between Georgia and Alabama since Nick Saban’s retirement. And while that is a cool storyline worth following as a football fan, it isn’t our top priority. What is on the top of our list is seeing what potential prospects Bears GM Ryan Poles could have eyes on when the 2025 NFL Draft rolls around next April.
Ryan Poles could have eyes for any number of different prospects
These Alabama-Georgia games tend to showcase some of college football’s most prolific talents. And this year is no different.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. recently dropped a Big Board ranking of his top prospects. Using Kiper’s guide, these are players worth knowing.
TOP 25 OVERALL PROSPECTS
- Mykel Williams, Georgia EDGE (Kiper’s No. 4 overall prospect)
- Jalon Walker, Georgia LB/EDGE (Kiper’s No. 11 prospect)
- Carson Beck, Georgia QB (Kiper’s No. 13 prospect … not that we’re tracking QBs right now)
PROSPECTS RANKING AMONG THE TOP 10 AT THEIR RESPECTIVE POSITIONS
- Trevor Etienne, Georgia (No. 10 running back)
- Tyler Booker, Alabama (No. 1 interior offensive lineman)
- Jaeden Roberts, Alabama (No. 3 interior OL)
- Tate Ratledge, Georgia (No. 4 interior OL)
- Dylan Fairchild, Georgia (No. 5 interior OL)
- Jihaad Campbell, Alabama (No. 2 off-ball linebacker)
- Deontae Lawson, Alabama (No. 5 off-ball LB)
- Malaki Starks, Georgia (No. 1 safety)
- Keon Sabb, Alabama (No. 6 safety)
- Malachi Moore, Alabama (No. 8 safety)
Oh, to be a fly on the wall at Halas Hall when Ryan Poles and his scouts put together a list of prospects they want to focus on as potential 2025 NFL Draft targets. Obviously, the Bears won’t be in play for all of these players. But it is still good to know who could be on their radar. And it is never too early to get a head start on familiarizing yourself with names that will be everywhere when the spring rolls around.
Because I know you care, some early mock drafts have begun rolling out. Here are five players who mock draft guys have connected to Chicago’s football team as feasible first-round targets on that circuit:
- Abdul Carter, Penn State EDGE (CBS Sports)
- Kelvin Banks, Texas offensive tackle (The 33rd Team)
- Mykel Williams, Georgia EDGE (Tankathon)
- Mason Graham, Michigan defensive tackle (Sports Illustrated)
- James Pearce Jr., Tennessee EDGE (The Draft Network)
Unsurprisingly, the mock drafts have the Bears targeting help in the trenches. And while I could say something along the lines of how you can’t go wrong with addressing needs on either side of the line of scrimmage, I feel as if it would behoove Ryan Poles and his cronies to bone up on the top offensive line prospects in the upcoming class because that is where the team’s biggest needs are at the moment.
Left guard Teven Jenkins is three games into the final year of his rookie deal and it doesn’t seem as if an extension is on the horizon as of right now. Center Coleman Shelton is in Chicago on a one-year contract. Right guard Nate Davis could be moved off the roster with a minimal dead cap hit of $2 million in a move that OverTheCap.com estimates would create $9.5 million in cap space.
In the end, I want you to know that the Bears game is still of the utmost importance to us here at BN Bears. And I understand that there are dozens of other games featuring top prospects. But I also want you to know that the Alabama-Georgia game is in its own stratosphere in terms of importance and watchability. I’ll be sure to turn it on later.
