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With the 2023 NFL Draft taking place Thursday, April 27, in Kansas City, Missouri, the Chicago Bears currently hold the 9th overall pick in the first round.
The Bears will have 10 picks in the NFL Draft. The team will not only look to add a blue chip player with the 9th overall pick, but the 53rd and 61st pick of the second round, 64th pick of the third round, 103rd and 133rd pick of the fourth round, 136th and 148th pick of the fifth round and the 218th and 258th pick of the seventh round.
Below are names of those the Bears may possibly pick during Thursday night’s draft according to draft experts:
With the 9th overall pick, the Bears will select Tyree Wilson, a Texas Tech, Edge Senior (RS). According to Chad Reuter of NFL Draft Scout.com, Wilson attended Texas A&M after earning second-team All-Texas honors at West Rusk High School, redshirting his first year in College Station and then playing in 12 games off the bench in 2019 (12 tackles, three for loss with 1.5 sacks).
He transferred to Texas Tech for 2020, starting five of nine contests (11 tackles, 1.5 sacks). Wilson led the Red Raiders with 13.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks (among 38 total stops) in 13 starts in 2021, garnering honorable mention All-Big 12 honors. He also made the Associated Press All-Bowl Team with four tackles, two sacks and three pass deflections in the team’s AutoZone Liberty Bowl win over Mississippi State.
Wilson came out strong as a senior, topping the defense with 14 tackles for loss and seven sacks among his 61 tackles in 10 starts before a foot injury ended his season.
With the 53rd pick of the second round, the Bears will select Matthew Bergeron of Syracuse (OT, Senior). Reuter report states Bergeron is a Quebec native who joined Syracuse in 2019, starting five of 12 appearances at right tackle to become the first freshman to start outside for the Orange in nearly 20 years. Bergeron started all 11 games in 2020, the first three at right tackle and the final eight at left tackle. He started all 12 games on the blindside in 2021, garnering honorable mention All-ACC notice. League coaches voted him second-team all-conference for his play in 11 starts at left tackle his senior year. Bergeron opted out of the team’s bowl game.
With the 61st pick of the second round, the Bears will select Rashee Rice (SMU/ WR/Senior). As stated by NFL Analyst Lance Zierlein, Rice is a talented receiver with game tape that shows a lack of consistency and impressive ball skills.
Rice has enough top-end speed to attack vertically but has a tendency for nonchalant running on intermediate routes and zone-beaters underneath. In one game you might see terrific ball-tracking and jump-ball victories followed by frustrating drops and a lack of physicality in fighting back on contested catches. The route inefficiencies can be cleaned up, but Rice must play with better consistency and urgency to find long-term NFL reps.
In addition to the breakdown of the first three picks of the Bears, here is how the other seven picks may happen according to the NFL.com Draft Prospect profiles.
With the 64th pick of the third round, the Bears will select Byron Young (Tennessee/Edge/Senior). With the 103rd pick of the fourth round, the Bears will select Chase Brown, (Illinois, RB, Senior (RS). With the 133rd pick of the fourth round, the Bears will select Davis Allen (Clemson/TE/Senior).
With the 136th and 148th picks of the fifth round, the Bears will select Jaylon Jones (Texas A&M/CB/Junior) and Chamarri Conner (Virginia Tech/S/Senior). With the 218th and 258th pick of the seventh round, the Bears will select Ricky Stromberg (Arkansas/C/Senior) and Z. Barnes (Western Michigan/LB/Senior).
That concludes the Bears seven round draft.
Joseph Phillips is the Sports Editor for the Chicago Crusader Newspaper. He is a Chicago native, who has been a sports writer for over 17 years. He also hosts the SC Media News and Sports Network Q&A radio show on WHPK 88.5 FM Chicago.
