2024 NFL Draft: Bears go all defense in 1st round of this mock draft

The start of a new NFL season brings with it the start of mock draft season. And while it may seem odd that NFL mock drafts will be published at a feverish pace despite so much football that has to be played, it’s still a wonderful time of year.

It’s even more wonderful for Chicago Bears fans, who will read every mock draft with the delight of having two first-round picks.

The Bears acquired the Panthers’ first-round pick in the trade that sent the 2023 No. 1 overall selection to Carolina for wide receiver DJ Moore and a bounty of draft choices, the most important of which is the 2024 first-round pick.

Pro Football Focus’ Trevor Sikkema published a new 2024 NFL mock draft Monday, and it offered an interesting take on what GM Ryan Poles could do with the Bears’ pair of first-rounders.

Bears add UCLA edge Laiatu Latu at No. 8 overall

The Chicago Bears will be a popular landing spot for the top edge rusher prospects in the 2024 NFL Draft. Adding veteran pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue isn’t enough to push edger rusher off the top of their needs list, and Latu, according to Sikemma, is a must-have.

“Latu put on a masterclass in his 2023 debut, earning a 94.2 pass-rush grade with three sacks, 10 pressures and a 32.2% pass-rush win percentage,” Sikkema wrote. “The 6-foot-5, 265-pound edge rusher showed off his top-10 talent with excellent hand usage and an extensive pass-rush profile.”

Latu was extremely productive in 2022, finishing with 10.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss. His remarkable three-sack opener should help him reach career-highs in sacks in 2023, which will make him a viable top-10 prospect.

Chicago Bears go back to defensive tackle with second first-rounder

Sikemma’s next pick for the Bears in the first round is a bit of a head-scratcher. He has Chicago selecting Miami defensive lineman Leonard Taylor III.

Taylor is an exciting prospect who should be a first-round pick next April, but Ryan Poles invested heavily into interior defenders in the 2023 draft. He spent a second-round pick on Gervon Dexter III and a third-rounder on Zacch Pickens. To come back one draft later and spend a first-round pick on the position would mean that one or both of his 2023 picks were busts.

Perhaps Taylor will prove to be too good to pass up, though. The old saying of draft good players must apply to every draft class regardless of what was done the previous year. Poles returned to the cornerback position in Round 2 this year despite selecting Kyler Gordan with a top-50 pick in 2022. Maybe he will do that at defensive tackle in 2024.

“Taylor earned an 85.5 pass-rush grade last season with 26 total pressures and a 16.4% pass-rush win rate,” Sikkema wrote. “He’s one of the fastest, most violent interior defenders you’ll watch this season. He’s not quite on Jalen Carter’s level (who is?), but the 6-foot-3, 305-pound junior should be poised for another standout season.”

Grading Pro Football Focus’ Chicago Bears Mock Draft

Overall, I give Sikkema’s mock draft a solid B grade. He addressed the Chicago Bears’ biggest need with a borderline elite talent with their first selection and shored up the defensive line with a cat-quick penetrator with the second pick.

Bears fans may not like so much draft capital invested in defensive linemen in a two-year span, but offensive and defensive lines dictate football games. You can never have enough good players at those positions.