Mick Jaggar probably didn't take a good look at the NFL draft when he sang "You Can't Always Get What You Want."
Where there is a will, there is a way. It just depends on what you're willing to surrender to get it because the draft is the ultimate marketplace.
The aim of my penultimate draft for this year is to find the Bears what they really want, what Ben Johnson needs to make this offense work the best. The obvious answer is the Bears need Ashton Jeanty.
Personally, I think North Carolina's Omarion Hampton would suit Johnson's offense just as well with his power style. It would let them use either D'Andre Swift as their speed back this year or draft someone later like Brashard Smith or one of several others to complement him.
Regardless, the point with a mock draft was to give the Bears what they want and what it seems fans really want. There is no denying Jeanty's talent, whether he was running against Penn State and Oregon State or against defenseless Mountain West opponents.
Besides, if the Bears sit at No. 10 and think they can get Hampton, it might not work. Dallas might move ahead of them in a trade to make it two backs in the top 10.
So this mock draft is all about getting Jeanty to Chicago and what it's going to mean in terms of how Ryan Poles must then address the rest of his draft.
Their needs will remain the same.
The Bears are on the clock.
The First Trade
The New England Patriots are fourth and the only way the Bears are getting Jeanty is to move up at least to fifth. The Patriots are rebuilding and have needs for more players now and in the future. The trade was offered, first thinking a second-round pick and something else. However, it became apparent New England would be open to ways that would let the Bears keep their second-round picks this year. The agreement, one approved by the draft simulator, was the third-round pick this year that the Bears have, No. 72 overall, as well as a second-rounder next year and a sixth-round pick next year. Congratulations to the Bears as Ashton Jeanty is still on the board and they are picking No. 4.
Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State
Round 1, No. 4
It would be exciting to see what Johnson does with a back who can both make tacklers miss and run through their tackle attempts, one who can go the distance and catch passes as well. Their attack can open wide if the threat is there for Caleb Williams to simply hand off or throw a screen to his back. The price is paid and now Poles will need to find ways to get what he still needs from this draft with his remaining picks.
Donovan Jackson, G/T, Ohio State
Round 2, No. 39
Most of the flashier offensive line prospects are gone by now but Jackson is a player with both guard and tackle experience. He was first-team All-Big Ten as a left guard, second-team All-American last year as left tackle for nine games replacing injured Josh Simmons and five games at left guard. He's exactly what they need this year for a depth piece at guard/tackle considering how depleted their tackle depth is, but also to train for either guard or tackle next year. The arm length issue is there to some degree because he measured 33 1/2 inches, but that's still better than Will Campbell and several other tackles. At 6-3, 315, he probably is more of a guard but the weight and quickness he has shown says he could play tackle in the NFL, too. The Bears would naturally have been looking here to draft Josh Conerly from Oregon, a player they've shown interest in, but he's gone and actually made it up into the end of Round 1.
Kevin Winston Jr., S, Penn State
Round 3, No. 68
Wait, what? What happened to pick No. 41?
Well, this is what's going to need to happen if the Bears trade up for Jeanty. They're not going to want to just sit there and take their two second-round picks and then wait until Round 5 to pick again. This not a team with so few needs to sit out almost three rounds of the draft. Remember, that third-round pick was traded for Jeanty. There is no fourth-round pick, dealt away last year so they could draft Austin Booker. So the answer was a trade with the Raiders, who wanted the 41st pick. I moved back 27 spots into Round 3 and recouped my third-round pick given away for Jeanty, then also was given the Raiders' fourth-rounder at No. 108 to help plug a gap in the draft. And, get this, they also traded the Bears a third-round pick in 2026. It should take a third and fourth to get a team to move back 27 spots out of Round 2. Now the Bears have a Day 2 pick back in 2026 to make up, in part, for the 2026 second-rounder given up for Jeanty.
The choice here of Winston is one the Bears would be lucky to make in Round 3 because Winston is said to have skills like an first- or second-round safety in the draft. He is overcoming an ACL tear but it was suffered Sept. 7 and he was able to run 4.45-4.5 in the 40 at his pro day. No doubt a few more months of rehab and strengthening and he'll be back in the 4.39-4.40 range where they projected him back before last season. The Bears have no safeties under contract for 2026 and this solves a big need for their future. He's graded fourth-best safety in the draft by Mel Kiper Jr.
Oluwafemi Oladejo, DE, UCLA
Round 4, No. 108
With the fourth-rounder the Raiders coughed up so I'd move back out of Round 2, the Bears still have that one extra edge rusher need. UCLA has a reputation for developing edge rushers. Oladejo is an unconventional choice but only because of his inexperience. He made seven sacks last season after he switched from off-ball linebacker to the edge. He measured in at 259 pounds for the combine so he only needs to add a pound or two to fit the Dennis Allen edge rush mold of 261 pounds or higher. He is a player who needs to develop pass rush skills because he hasn't done it long, but the raw talent he displayed last year once he became an edge is very encouraging. He would fit as a rotational edge until he can be better. The Bears might be thinking more of an edge who stops the run, but then again, that's why they acquired Dayo Odeyingbo. They need some pass rush heat.
It would probably be better to have a more scheme-specific edge rush contributor out of this draft but finding one who can apply heat is going to be the tradeoff if you're moving up to get Jeanty.
Logan Brown, T, Kansas
Round 5, No. 148
Even more tackle depth is needed. This is a 6-6, 311-pound tackle with a very high athletic score from the comine with a 5.18-second 40, 1.75-secon splot,32 vertical leap, 9-foot-3, broad jump and 26 reps in the bench press. A transfer from Wiscosin, he was said by PFF ot make a big leap as a blocker last year for the Jayhawks. The problem: He was dismissed from the team in October of 2022 at Wisconsin for an "internal incident," per interim coach Jim Leonhard. Then an injury knocked him out of 2023 after two games, but last year he rebounded big time to make second-team All-Big 12.
Luke Lachey, TE, Iowa
Round 7, No. 235
You can't go wrong with an Iowa tight end even in Round 7. There were other players who slipped from grades earlier in this draft but Lachey is the choice to fit and had 28 catches for 398 yards in 2022 but was limited due to an ankle injury in 2023. The 33rd Team calls him a zone buster and flat target on boot passes who was probably capable of more as a receiver but was caught in a zone-run scheme that limited his route possibilities.
DT Ty Robinson, Nebraska
Round 7, No. 241
A dislocated shoulder early last season and then later a leg injury still could not stop Robinson from making an impact in his best year. He had six sacks as a 6-foot-5 1/2, 288-pounder and is a good fit for the Bears as both a 3-technique or even sliding outside. His versatility would give him a much better chance to contribute than many of the seventh-round picks they've had in recent years. Graded much higher, he had a big improvement in his final season and las tyear lined up all up and down the line. He played 374 snaps in the A-gap or B-gap, 130 over tackle and 102 outside the tackle.
