CHICAGO BEARS
Round 2 (No. 39 overall) – Kyler Gordon, CB, Washington: They make their inaugural pick of this draft by taking a solid corner, one who can play outside or in the slot and augments the league’s third-ranked pass defense. Gordon, the latest in a long line of excellent UW DBs, probably moves into a starting role on the outside while veteran signing Tavon Young stays in the slot.
Round 2 (48, from Chargers) – Jaquan Brisker, S, Penn State: He feels like a Chicago player, a DB who can bring the wood. But Brisker can do more than that, another safety who’s able to play deep at the line of scrimmage or in the slot. He should start Day 1 at strong safety. This selection was obtained courtesy of the Khalil Mack trade earlier this year.
Round 3 (71) – Velus Jones Jr., WR, Tennessee: Caught 62 passes last year but might make his mark as a return man first for Chicago. Still, a guy with 4.31 speed is a guy QB Justin Fields will want on the field with the offense.
Round 5 (168, from Bills) – Braxton Jones, OT, Southern Utah
Round 5 (174, from Bengals) – Dominique Robinson, DE, Miami (Ohio)
Round 6 (186) – Zachary Thomas, OT, San Diego State
Round 6 (203, from Bills) – Trestan Ebner, RB, Baylor
Round 6 (207, from 49ers through Jets and Texans) – Doug Kramer, C, Illinois
Round 7 (226, from Giants through Bengals) – Ja’Tyre Carter, OG, Southern
Round 7 (254, compensatory, from Chargers) – Elijah Hicks, S, California
Round 7 (255, compensatory, from Chargers) – Trenton Gill, P, North Carolina State
Grade: C
The jury is still out on Fields, whose arrival in 2021 also came at the expense of this year’s first-rounder. But you would’ve thought rookie GM Ryan Poles would have done more to find players here – specifically weapons and blockers – to accelerate Fields’ development. Nope. Gordon and Brisker are really good players ... but you wonder if that defense will be on the field a lot in 2022 considering the way things have gone for Fields.