Bears get another look Kizer
The Bears got a look at a top quarterback prospect Thursday, when Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer worked out at the team’s local pro day at Halas Hall.
It likely was Kizer’s third meeting with the Bears. He wore a Tshirt from the band Chicago at his on- campus pro day last month and has expressed an interest in playing in the city.
Kizer was allowed to participate because of a new local pro day rule. The NFL designated up to three colleges to qualify as “local” based on proximity to a team’s market. The league selected Notre Dame, Northwestern and Northern Illinois for the Bears.
Kizer — who was a big name at an event typically reserved for less- ballyhooed draftees — doesn’t count against the Bears’ limit of 30 prospect visits.
Signing starter Mike Glennon to a three- year, $ 45 million contract and Mark Sanchez to back him up won’t preclude the Bears from adding a quarterback in the draft later this month.
Kizer is a member of a quarterback quartet — alongside Clem- son’s DeShaun Watson, North Carolina’s Mitchell Trubisky and fast- rising Texas Tech gunslinger Patrick Mahomes — that could be selected anywhere from No. 2 overall to midway through the second round.
“I’ve gone back and forth on these guys so much because they have their different strengths and weaknesses,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said this week. “Finally, I said: Watson, Trubisky, Kizer. Watson for me because of the things I know he has: poise, toughness, intelligence, leadership, and physically he can make every throw.”
Kizer, who first met with the Bears at the NFL Scouting Combine, went 212- for- 361 for 2,925 yards with 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions in his second season as a starter. The Irish went 4- 8 last year before he decided to turn pro early.
What he lacks in winning percentage he makes up for with a 6- 4, 233- pound frame and strong arm. Kizer, 21, is seen as someone with room to grow.
He worked out for the Cardinals on Monday before returning to Notre Dame.
Follow me on Twitter @ patrickfinley.