NEWSLETTER
The 2024 NFL Draft is just hours away.
Let’s run down the latest mock drafts and see who the NFL insiders and experts have the Chicago Bears taking with the No. 9 pick.
Hey, now! Don’t give me that look. Caleb Williams as the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft is all but secure. The only thing left is for the Bears to call it in and for Commissioner Roger Goodell to say it out loud. All the hard work is done.
As for the No. 9 pick…
BYRON MURPHY II, Texas defensive tackle: There has been a bunch of late buzz connecting Murphy and the Bears. Dane Brugler (The Athletic) generally has a good feel for the draft board and believes Murphy could be the pick if three wide receivers come off the board in the first eight selections. “Murphy might not have desired size, but he’d be a scheme fit,” Brugler writes. “and he’s consistently disruptive versus the pass and run.” That sounds like a Matt Eberflus pick to me.
MALIK NABERS, LSU wide receiver: The MMQB’s Albert Breer has been pretty spot on with Bears reporting in recent years, so I found myself giving his one-and-only 2024 mock draft a closer look. Breer sees Nabers as a fit. And I can’t say I blame him:
Nabers is 100% the kind of receiver Ryan Poles loves, and Chicago has a receiver room with top-shelf pros in DJ Moore and Keenan Allen, to help absorb a bigger personality. I do think Turner and Murphy would be in play if they’re available at 9, as would a couple of the tackles. But the opportunity to build aggressively around Williams such as the Chiefs did with a younger Patrick Mahomes, when Poles was in Kansas City, is too much to pass up.
I mean, when you put it that way … sign me up!
OLU FASHANU, Penn State offensive tackle: NFL Network draft guru Daniel Jeremiah is another one of those who doesn’t play around too much in mock drafts. With that being said, Jeremiah senses the Bears could trade down — and still land Olumuyiwa Fashanu in the process. But if the Bears stay at No. 9, Jeremiah expects the Bears to go with a receiver (Rome Odunze) or offensive tackle (because GM Ryan Poles and Assistant GM Ian Cunningham know how important it is to get it right along the offensive line).
Jeremiah calls Fashanu “a massive upgrade” over returning starting left tackle Braxton Jones. I am #NotAScout. But if that is the case, then I wouldn’t mind the Bears taking Fashanu. Perhaps that is the kind of move that opens up the Bears to trade Jones to a team that needs offensive line help.
DALLAS TURNER, Alabama edge defender: ESPN’s Jordan Reid takes us a different direction with his mock sending Alabama pass rusher Dallas Turner to Chicago:
Considering the Bears have four total picks, trading back for more draft capital is certainly a possibility. However, defensive end hasn’t really been addressed by GM Ryan Poles, outside of last season’s trade for Montez Sweat, and Chicago had 30 sacks in 2023, second fewest in the NFL. Turner is explosive in getting to the QB. After a 10-sack final season at Alabama, he’d join Sweat to form a really good edge rush.
I can see the Bears going this route.
This is where we begin getting a consensus about what the Bears will do at pick No. 9
ROME ODUNZE, Washington wide receiver: I have lost count of how many times I’ve seen Odunze’s name connected with the Bears in the pre-draft process. Even still … I wouldn’t mind if Caleb to Rome became part of the Chicago lexicon moving forward. For what it’s worth, Odunze and Williams have discussed what it would be like to Bears teammates. How can you not dream the biggest dream so close to draft time?
Here is the rest of the final mock from NFL on FOX reporter and NFL Network “Good Morning Football” co-host Peter Schrager:
MORE: Caleb Williams Shares Who He’d Take With the No. 9 Pick
The Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs, like Schrager, has the Bears taking Rome Odunze with the No. 9 pick. Here is what the long-time Trib reporter envision in his fourth (and final!) mock draft of 2024:
This feels like a spot where the Bears will either grab Odunze, who had a super-productive career at Washington, or select Murphy. One of them likely will be available if Poles passes on a trade-down scenario. Odunze could quickly emerge as a future star with Caleb Williams and essentially replace Keenan Allen in the future.
Sounds like strong logic to me.
How about another mock with the Bears going to Rome via ESPN’s Matt Miller, who says the Bears “are rumored to love Odunze’s skill set.” Hey, they’re not alone in feeling that way!
So … who’s your pick to click tonight at No. 9?
