The Chicago Bears have become one of, if not the most interesting team in the entire 2024 NFL Draft. That goes back to last year's draft when they first held the No. 1 overall pick but traded it to a quarterback-needy Carolina Panthers. One part of the trade was that the Panthers gave away their first-round pick in 2024, which now belongs to the Bears.
Speculation ran wild as to what exactly the Bears were going to do in this year's draft once the Panthers, the worst team in the league last year, earned Chicago the No. 1 pick. Then weeks ago, when finally finding a trade partner with the Pittsburgh Steelers, quarterback Justin Fields was traded, and then it became crystal clear what the Bears would be doing with the No. 1 overall pick.
Unless there's a massive, earth-shattering deal that would seemingly shake up the whole draft where the Bears trade the No. 1 pick to another team, they'll almost certainly be taking USC quarterback Caleb Williams with their first pick. But that's just the pick they acquired from the Panthers. Chicago still has a first-round pick of their own.
The Bears finishing 7-10 was good enough for them to earn a top 10 pick, selecting at No. 9. With the No. 1 pick a near lock and with the Bears shoring up some position needs in free agency, the real question is now what will they do with their No. 9 pick? They could obviously keep it, but they have lots of flexibility, especially given their trade for former Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen. Or they could trade with a team to move down in the draft.
“One team’s going to look at if the tackle position is the best to go after, the wide receivers the best, the defensive end is the best, and you use factual information to kind of spit that out and we’ll have a debate in terms of what’s more impactful for our football team, short term and long term,” Poles said in a recent interview, via Depressed Bears Fan X account.
Now, with that said, let's look at three players the Bears should target with their No. 9 pick.
Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State
It would be hard to imagine that if Marvin Harrison Jr. is still sitting there at No. 9 that the Bears wouldn't take him. He'd arguably be the best player on the board. Do the Bears need him now? Not necessarily, but they still could use another receiver. Plus, adding Harrison and Williams in one single draft would be a potential major boost to Chicago's offense, putting them on a path they've not quite seen before in the history of the franchise. Not many teams get an opportunity like that in one draft.
Taliese Fuaga, OT, Oregon State
It wouldn't be the eye-popping pick, or maybe not even the popular one, but selecting Oregon State offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga would be a great option for the Bears. With Williams, a rookie quarterback coming in, you have to figure the Bears want to protect him for as long as they can with good talent up front. Fuaga will be the next-best option for a tackle behind Notre Dame's Joe Alt, who will likely be taken before the ninth pick.
Byron Murphy II, DT, Texas
One way or another, head coach Matt Eberflus wants to focus on the quarterback (per Herb Howard), whether that be help his own or affect the opponents. Looking at a third player was difficult, going between someone like Jared Verse or a Dallas Turner for an edge rusher — and those would still be great options — but we're going with someone on the interior of the line instead, with Texas' Byron Murphy II.
Murphy had his best season last year in college with the Longhorns. In 14 games, he had 29 total tackles, 8.5 for a loss, and five sacks. At 6-foot-1, 308, he could clog that inner part of the line, beefing up the defensive front, becoming a nice addition on that side of the ball.
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