Chicago Bears Q&A: Do you draft for need or ‘best player available’? How far would Ryan Poles trade down?

We’re a little more than three weeks from the NFL draft, and even after trading the No. 1 pick, the Chicago Bears strategy remains full of intrigue. Brad Biggs attempts to sort it out in his weekly Bears mailbag.

Does a situation arise picking for need vs. picking the best player on your draft board? — @gcominos

“Best player available” is one of the more twisted and misunderstood terms this time of year. It’s fueled at times by teams declaring after the draft how they were delighted so-and-so fell to them because he just happened to be the highest-graded player on their board.

Would the Bears draft a safety with their first pick? I’d be stunned. Now, there’s not a safety worthy of a top-10 pick, but consider my point. Review the roster and the Bears have gaping needs at defensive tackle and on the edge, have yet to do enough to overhaul the offensive line and need another cornerback. They could go in at least three directions and satisfy “need” with their first pick.

Some may disagree, but I think “best player available” discussions come into play when you have a player with a significantly higher grade measured against a player at a position of need. You can get into trouble by drafting solely for need and bypassing better players. But if you have Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs at linebacker, you don’t do a lot to help your team by using a high pick on another linebacker. There’s a balance.

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I’ve noticed some websites have Teven Jenkins as the starting right tackle on the Bears depth chart. I’ve also read Cody Whitehair is moving to center with Jenkins and Nate Davis at guard, Larry Borom at right tackle and Braxton Jones at left tackle. What do you think the current starting O-line is? — @themaxconnor1

I feel like you’re asking me to reveal the final 30 minutes of the movie before I’ve seen it. The Bears don’t need a starting lineup right now and they won’t be on the field until May. Whatever starting five you currently project almost certainly will be adjusted by what the team does in the draft. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Bears select a player to compete for the right tackle job, and you can’t rule out the possibility they also will look at a center.

General manager Ryan Poles signed Davis in March to a three-year, $30 million contract, added Lucas Patrick last year on a two-year, $8 million contract and selected four offensive linemen on Day 3 of last year’s draft. There’s more heavy lifting to do here. Let’s see what the draft brings before we assemble a depth chart.

Why is everyone discounting the fact Teven Jenkins was a highly regarded right tackle coming out of college? I understand he was really good at guard, but isn’t tackle a higher need? — @stewart_errol

The Bears took a brief look at Jenkins at tackle last summer and shortly after that moved him inside. He wasn’t shifted to guard because they had elite options at tackle. Could Jenkins move back outside to tackle? Anything is possible. My hunch is their first choice would be to keep him at the position where he was settling in and see if he can continue to grow. Sure, tackle is a greater need than guard, and there’s a chance the Bears would be able to select the first offensive lineman with the No. 9 pick. That might fill the tackle hole right there.

A bigger issue for Jenkins than where he plays is whether he can remain on the field. He started 11 games in 2022 and played 100% of the offensive snaps in five of them. That’s partly because he was rotating at right guard early in the season, but that decision was due in part to Jenkins missing a decent chunk of training camp with an undisclosed injury.

This is a huge year for him as he’s entering his third season, meaning he’s eligible for a contract extension at this time next year. Jenkins can do a lot toward shaping his future by how he performs this season.

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Do you see the Bears staying at No. 9? If not, how far down do you think is the cut-off point to trade back to. — @thevenerablen

I answered a question along these lines last week and it remains a popular topic, one that surprises me a little bit. As I wrote previously, there was considerable concern among readers before the Bears traded the No. 1 pick that they might trade down too far and not remain in position for an impact player. Now there seems to be nearly as much interest in seeing another trade happen.

There wouldn’t be a big haul for the ninth pick unless Ryan Poles trades into the second half of Round 1. The Bears traded up to get the No. 9 pick in 2016, when they selected Leonard Floyd. They moved up from No. 11 and gave the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a fourth-round pick in return. So that gives you an idea of what Poles could get if he moves back two spots. Go back a little more and the price goes up. There has to be a player another team really covets, and if a quarterback isn’t available there, I’m not sure what the odds are of a trading partner emerging.

If Poles is inclined to trade down when he’s on the clock at No. 9, it’s likely because he has similar grades on a cluster of three or four players on his board. In a situation like that, he probably wouldn’t want to trade down more than three or four spots to ensure he lands one of them.

The other possibility — and this involves a lot of moving parts — is moving down deeper into Round 1 and getting enough draft capital to combine with Day 2 picks to then trade back into Round 1. In that scenario, the Bears could have two picks in the back half of the first round. That’s a dice roll, for sure, because you don’t know what you’re going to get.

Don’t the Bears have to sign a veteran presence for the defensive line? I’m thinking a pass rusher in an ideal world. — Mike M., Geneva

A handful of veteran edge defenders are currently unsigned, including former Bears first-round pick Leonard Floyd, Yannick Ngakoue, Frank Clark, Jadeveon Clowney, Melvin Ingram and Justin Houston. They are unsigned for one primary reason: No team has offered the money they are hoping to land. Will that kind of offer emerge for one or two of them? Possibly. With the draft quickly approaching — and this is a deep position for college talent — some teams probably are waiting to see what they add in their rookie class.

It would not surprise me if the Bears are keeping tabs on an edge rusher or two and monitoring the marketplace. Maybe they’re waiting for someone to come to them at their price. Perhaps Ryan Poles wants to wait until after the draft to see what holes need to be filled on the roster. As I said last week, players who aren’t getting the money they seek will wait out the process to ensure they land in a situation they deem most favorable. That means things such as the depth chart (post-draft), quality of the team, city — all the factors that play a role besides cash.

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With the trenches still a looming question mark for this upcoming season, how likely do you think a double dip in the second round in the draft is? — @__Havok___

Right now, the Bears own four of the top 64 picks, and considering how Ryan Poles maneuvered last year, the chances are good there will be some moves. For the sake of this discussion, let’s assume they stay put. It’s a good draft for edge rushers and the Bears need help on the offensive and defensive lines. It wouldn’t surprise me if three of their first four picks were at those positions.

I suspect the Bears have a short list of players that, if available at No. 9, they will happily take. Who do you believe is on that list? — Matt O.

The short list you refer to is what the Bears are dialing in on over the next few weeks. You’re probably looking at a list of defensive linemen that includes Jalen Carter, Tyree Wilson, Lukas Van Ness, Bryan Bresee and Myles Murphy, offensive linemen Peter Skoronski, Paris Johnson Jr. and Broderick Jones and cornerbacks Devon Witherspoon, Christian Gonzalez and Joey Porter Jr.

That’s a lot of names for a short list, but you don’t know right now how they evaluate these players and stack them up on the board. It certainly benefits the Bears if four quarterbacks go in the first eight picks.

If the team as a whole takes a step forward, which players up for extensions will get them? — @ebrown1481

Tight end Cole Kmet, cornerback Jaylon Johnson and wide receivers Darnell Mooney and Chase Claypool can sign new contracts now. A team typically doesn’t get into that kind of business until later in the offseason after the draft wraps up. My guess is the Bears would like to get deals done with some of these players — but negotiations are a two-way street and every deal takes on a life of its own.

After this coming season, quarterback Justin Fields and offensive lineman Teven Jenkins are eligible for new contracts. How they perform will determine the team’s level of motivation to get something done. Fields would have one year remaining on his contract and the Bears would hold a fifth-year option for 2025, so it’s not like they would have to make a decision immediately.

Potential extensions for the first four players I listed would help the Bears meet the spending floor so many folks seem to be concerned about.