Ask most Bears fans the team's biggest needs heading into the draft and the answer for many would have been running back and edge rusher after they already addressed offensive line in free agency.
The first two days of the draft ended Friday and GM Ryan Pole moved around, turned his two second-round picks and a third-rounder into three second-rounders and came away pleased with the results.
He also came away without a running back and an edge rusher, so it's easy to wonder what they've actually accomplished.
They did draft Shemar Turner in Round 2 at No. 62, acquired after they traded the 41st pick. Turner played the edge but converted last year to 3-technique defensive tackle.
"We believe there’s good players in a lot of different buckets, it’s just kind of how it falls," Poles said. "We have certain lines and parameters and kind of guard rails where, all right, if we get past this guard rail or this line, maybe we need to see if we can trade back to accumulate more, to have more ammo to spread it out a little bit wider.
"If there’s someone we really like, then we’ll just pick the player."
They liked the chance for more picks better than some of the edge or running backs who were there.
Turner is a pass rusher, at least, but like with some of Poles' past picks he had an injury issue. He had a stress fracture in his shin. That injury always scares Bears fans because 2015 first-rounder Kevin White had a shin stress fracture.
"Yeah, so he actually, he had a procedure to get that cleaned up and the beautiful thing that actually settles us is he did his pro day," Poles said. "So you’ve seen him do a full D-line work, I think it was Joe Cullen from Kansas City did it and Joe Cullen’s pro day workouts are, like, exhausting. And he (Turner) did it and did it well. So we feel comfortable with where he’s at."
One reason they didn't get a back was a few of the more qualified ones went early in Round 2, TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins from Ohio State.
They took the top player they had on their board, according to Poles, but it was a wide receiver, Luther Burden III from Missouri. Now coach Ben Johnson has yet another weapon in the arsenal, just not at the running back spot.
"Really did a good job following the board, kind of letting it talk to us," Poles said. "It was clear he was the most talented player on the board.
"He's an electric player, playmaker, highly-competitive, and the run-after-the-catch is special—probably the best in this class. When you add that to the group that we have, things get pretty exciting."
Now, after taking Burden and first-round tight end Colston Loveland, QB Caleb Williams has an abundance of targets. Maybe too many?
"That’s something Ben and I have talked about," Poles said. "I know that’s something he can handle and he’s going to have conversations with the guys about just in terms of being selfless and doing what’s best for the team.
"You know, we gotta win football games, and I know that the more talent that you have on the team, the better your opportunity is to win games. We haven’t won a lot of games here, so, yeah, things might be a little bit different. You may not be the only person, but at the end of the day the goal is for us to win."
The Bears with too much talent on offense for their own good sounds almost comical after past struggles scoring.
Burden has another issue. He wasn't happy about being a second-round pick. Poles likes that motivating factor at work.
"You know, any time you get in a situation where you feel like you got passed by from certain teams for certain reasons I do think that chip grows on your shoulder and ignites a different type of work ethic, a different type of mentality," Poles said. "The key thing is capturing that and making sure that it carries on, that it’s not just a flash in the pan type of thing, that we can consistently put that time and work in to be at a really high level."
Another place where there will be plenty of competition now is at tackle. They drafted Boston College tackle Ozzy Trapilo at No. 56 overall and now have Braxton Jones, Kiran Amegadjie and Trapilo in the mix at the left tackle spot, with Jones coming off ankle surgery.
"I'm not sure how it’s gonna play out," Poles said. "I know it’s gonna be a very competitive training camp and offseason. And I know that at the end of the day, whatever best five (linemen) come out of that are gonna be the guys that are gonna start for us. But as you know, trust me, and as we know around here for the last three years, we’ve been going through a lot of different rotations and a lot of different people.
"So to have guys that are gonna be reliable and dependable as things happen throughout the season is a good place. We want that depth. I think now those guys have really good role models and vets ahead of them to learn how to play this game at a high level.”
Even without the edge and the back, Poles likes where this draft is headed with fourth-round pick now in their fold, a fifth-rounder and two seventh-rounders ahead for Saturday.
"Yeah, we’ve been really disciplined," he said. "And that’s a conversation that we had going into this. We were going to just continue to bring really good football players in here, and when you look at the roster you feel good about really all 22 guys starting and playing in a pro football game. So when you’re taking these guys you know that it’s going to increase the level of competition. You know that you’re adding depth. You know that you’re just throwing more talent. And everything usually settles out the way it’s supposed to when you continue to do that. That’s what I think really good rosters do."
