Bears storylines: Bijan Robinson’s unexpected appeal, a big need at defensive tackle and the true cost of the Chase Claypool trade
CHICAGO — The NFL draft is three weeks away, leaving the Chicago Bears in the homestretch of their evaluation process.
The Bears currently hold 10 selections in the April 27-29 draft, and general manager Ryan Poles is eager to attack that weekend with purpose, understanding how many holes he has to fill on his roster.
As Poles and the Bears cross the bridge from free agency to the draft, here’s the inside slant on three notable storylines.
The sure thing
Approach the evaluation with an open mind and you’ll see why many NFL talent evaluators can’t stop fixating on Texas running back Bijan Robinson.
Scan through Robinson’s junior season stats — 258 carries, 1,580 yards, 18 touchdowns — and it’s easy to acknowledge the elite production.
Check out his combine measurables too. The 37-inch vertical leap, the 10-foot, 4-inch broad jump, the 4.46-second time in the 40-yard dash. Yep, those pass muster as well.
Then turn on the game video where week after week, series after series last season, Robinson put on a clinic in how to dizzy and demoralize defenses.
He showed patience and power, speed and vision.
Robinson can go 78 yards untouched like he did to poor Texas-San Antonio in September. Or he can become a human pinball for an entire afternoon, as he was during a 243-yard, four-touchdown effort against Kansas in November.
At a stage in the pre-draft process when every prospect in this class has had his skill set heavily examined with even the smallest flaws detected and debated, few around the NFL can find much wrong with Robinson, who was a unanimous All-American and the winner of the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back last season.
Jim Nagy, an NFL scout for 18 years who now is the executive director of the Senior Bowl, finished his Robinson report this week and left with his jaw dropped.
“(He) looks like the all-state kid pulled
