There’s nothing like an NFL re-draft to get you thinking about what could’ve been. And given some of the questionable first-round decisions by Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace, he could certainly use a re-draft.
ESPN recently had their group of NFL Nation reporters conduct an NFL re-draft with the current crop of players in the league. Bears writer Jeff Dickerson made Chicago’s selections in this re-draft, where they landed a quarterback, running back, wide receiver and safety.
Dickerson started with a quarterback with Chicago’s first-round pick at No. 19 with Jimmy Garoppolo, who has connections with Pace. The Bears also selected running back Derrick Henry, who carried the Tennessee Titans on his back en route to the AFC Championship last season.
- Round 1 (19): Jimmy Garoppolo, QB
- Round 2 (46): Derrick Henry, RB
I was determined to draft a quarterback in Round 1 and felt fortunate that Garoppolo was available. At 28 years old, he tied for fifth in touchdown passes (27) and took his team to the Super Bowl last year. And Henry, the NFL’s rushing champion, was a no-brainer for me in the second round.
In the third round, Dickerson went wide receiver selecting rookie Jerry Jeudy with pick No. 83. Then in the fourth round, Dickerson kept one of Chicago’s cornerstones on defense with safety Eddie Jackson at No. 110.
- Round 3 (83): Jerry Jeudy, WR
- Round 4 (110): Eddie Jackson, S
I wanted another offensive weapon, so I used my wild-card pick on Jeudy. My only regret is that I took Jeudy over Amari Cooper, who went four spots later. Hindsight is 20/20, but there’s no time to second-guess in my war room. I wrapped up the draft by addressing defense with ascending Pro Bowl safety Eddie Jackson. Translation: 12 victories and a berth in the conference championship game, at minimum.
Mike Clay put this Bears re-draft in Tier 4, citing Jackson as a solid fourth-round selection and Garoppolo as a nice value pick at No. 19. But he’s not sold on Henry and Jeudy at their respective picks.
