We’re off to the races in mock-draft season now that the Super Bowl is finished and the Tampa Bay Buccanneers have been crowned NFL champions.
And with the onslaught of mock drafts come first-round narratives that snowball into an avalanche of expectations for each team and what their intentions are with their first selection.
For some clubs, it’s easy to predict what position or player they’ll target with their first choice. The Jaguars are going to take a quarterback, and it’s going to be Trevor Lawrence. But for other teams, it isn’t that simple.
The Chicago Bears feel like they’re trending closer to that Jaguars’ realm. Their biggest need is along the offensive line — be it an offensive tackle or guard — and with the 20th pick not exactly a premium quarterback landing spot, it seems fair to assume GM Ryan Pace will land a potential starter upfront.
In Dane Brugler’s latest mock draft for The Athletic, the Bears land Oklahoma State offensive tackle, Teven Jenkins.
“Regardless of what the Bears do at quarterback, the results will be similar to the past few seasons unless they make upgrades on the offensive line,” Brugler wrote. “Although his lack of length leads to consistency issues, Jenkins is highly competitive and uniquely powerful with light feet to shut down rushers.”
Jenkins is building momentum as a first-round pick even though he wasn’t mentioned among the premier offensive linemen earlier in the draft cycle. Adding Jenkins in the first round would all but end the tenure of either Charles Leno Jr. or Bobby Massie in the starting lineup, and it feels like it’s time for a change anyway.
Neither Leno nor Massie is among the NFL’s better starters at their position and with the Bears likely fielding a stationary quarterback in 2021, an upgrade in pass protection is a necessity.
It’s too soon to say whether the Bears have Jenkins in their crosshairs, but it’ll be really hard for Pace to mess up Chicago’s first-round pick. Whether it’s Jenkins, USC’s Alijah Vera-Tucker, Texas’ Samuel Cosmi, or Michigan’s Jalen Mayfield, the Bears will have an opportunity to land an offensive line upgrade in Round 1.