2025 NFL Mock Draft sends Bears much-needed help at edge rusher

The Chicago Bears have a pass-rush problem. Well, sort of. All-world edge rusher Montez Sweat should be good for at least 10 or more sacks in 2024, but he might be the beginning, middle, and end of the pressure the Bears put on opposing quarterbacks.

Sure, coach Matt Eberflus might get a breakout season from Gervon Dexter, who can provide critical interior pressure, but who’s running opposite Sweat? Who will take advantage of the certain one-on-one matchups on the edge?

As of now, it’s DeMarcus Walker. I’m a fan of Walker, I believe he can be a serviceable three-down player who offers some pop in the pass rush occasionally. But if you think he’s the kind of edge rusher who can strike fear into opposing quarterbacks? Nah, that’s not him.

It’s too late in the offseason for the Chicago Bears to make a big free-agent swing. Maybe Yannick Ngakoue will come back and provide some veteran experience (again), but he wasn’t all that great in 2023. I don’t think the Bears should sacrifice developing a younger player for the sake of adding a vet who maybe adds five or six sacks.

So, where will Ryan Poles turn to fix this problem? You guessed it, the 2025 NFL Draft.

The folks over at The Draft Network published a new 2025 NFL Mock Draft this week, and it kicks off what will be a common theme in Chicago Bars mock drafts this year: The Bears snag an edge rusher with their first-round pick, which in this case comes at No. 19 overall: Nic Scourton, Texas A&M.

Nic Scourton (@NicCaraway3) of @BoilerFootball with the chop/spin sack. Beats the over-setting tackle & RB chip with the spin move inside. Executes a textbook “gator roll” tackle for the sack! #passrush #boilerup

S/O @CoachCook73 for the clip! pic.twitter.com/EZdScGe9g2

— DLineVids (@dlinevids1) September 12, 2023

“The Bears need another pass rusher to pair with Montez Sweat,” TDN’s Justin Melo wrote. “Nic Scourton will attempt to leave his mark on the SEC this season after transferring from Purdue to Texas A&M. He accumulated an impressive 10 sacks for the Boilermakers last season.”

Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

Edge rusher will be popular Chicago Bears mock draft pick

Get used to this, Bears fans. There won’t be many mock drafts with GM Ryan Poles going in a different direction.

We’re so used to quarterback or some other problem on offense dominating Bears draft talk, but that shouldn’t be the case this year. Sure, the offensive line could rise to the top of the Bears’ draft needs. Still, if everyone stays healthy, I can’t see Poles prioritizing an offensive tackle or interior lineman over a pass rusher, which appears to be the only thing holding this defense back right now.

“With both his lateral range and twitch, Scourton impresses, and he has the instant accelerative capacity to create angle advantages and leverage power from his momentum and mass,” Pro Football Network’s Ian Cummings wrote. “But just when you start to bill him as a power rusher, he can hit you with a vast array of spin moves from different alignments.”

Sounds like a guy the Chicago Bears would love to have.

Hopefully, Walker or maybe Austin Booker, who the Bears drafted in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft, emerges as a pleasant surprise in 2024. I know there are a lot of Bears fans who believe Walker can be that guy, but it’s unfair to peg a Day 3 pick as the answer to one of the hardest questions every NFL team is forced to solve.