Here’s who USA Today sends the Bears in a way-too-early 2024 mock draft

The Chicago Bears will have an exciting 2024 NFL Draft season. Armed with two first-round picks in a draft class with more talent, GM Ryan Poles has a chance to stack consecutive quality rookie groups.

Indeed, it’s too early to know which players will be in the first-round mix next year. Quarterbacks Caleb Williams (USC) and Drake Maye (UNC) are locks, as is wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (Ohio State). A few blue-grade offensive tackles should be top-10 prospects, as is Georgia tight end, Brock Bowers.

It’s also way (WAY) too early to know what each team’s 2024 NFL Draft needs will be. The 2023 season will be a war of attrition. Injuries will impact team needs, as will next offseason’s free agency period.

But that doesn’t mean 2024 mock drafts are a waste of time. Instead, they help set the table for the next 11 months. They offer clues about which players you should focus on this summer and into the college football season. And most of all, they’re a lot of fun to read.

USA Today published a way-too-early 2024 mock draft on Touchdown Wire this week, and the picks for the Chicago Bears stayed true to Poles’ early draft tendencies.

Round 1, Pick 10 (from Carolina): Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB, Alabama

Perez’s Take: First, what a name. It’s a first-round name. Any defensive back named Kool-Aid is easy to cheer for. Beyond that, he’s a blue-grade cover guy who totaled 13 pass breakups and an interception in 2022. He’s long and athletic and is the kind of defensive back opposing offenses avoid. He may get knocked for his ball production, but that would be a mistake. McKinstry has a chance to be one of the first defensive players drafted in 2024 if he puts it all together next season.

The question Chicago Bears fans should have is, why take a cornerback in the top 10? Poles has invested two high draft picks in cornerbacks over the last two drafts, and if he spends a first-rounder on the position in 2024, it’s likely because one of his previous picks hasn’t worked out. Sure, cornerback is a premium position, and you need three starting-caliber guys to compete. But it feels like this would be a selection to make up for a previous miss.

Round 1, Pick 11: Zion Nelson, OT, Miami

Perez’s Take: Is Nelson worth a fringe top-10 pick at this point in the process? Maybe. A July knee injury limited him to just two games in 2022, and he’ll need to prove he’s fully healthy early in the 2023 season. Big guys with bad knees tend to slide down the first round, but Nelson could be an exception. He’s a technically sound pass blocker who profiles as a left tackle in the NFL. He won’t be the first offensive tackle selected next year because of Penn State’s Olumuyiwa Fashanu and Notre Dame’s Joe Alt. But a strong 2023 season will cement his early first-round grade.

This pick wouldn’t make much sense for the Chicago Bears. After investing a first-round selection on Darnell Wright, and hitting on 2022’s fifth-rounder, Braxton Jones, offensive tackle doesn’t appear like a need. If either Wright or Jones struggles in 2023? Sure, we’ll return to early mock drafts like this one and say they were onto something. But this is an odd pick for the Bears.