The Chicago Bears’ offseason program is in the books, and the players are on summer break ahead of training camp in late July.
When looking at the Bears’ roster, there’s still a glaring hole at edge rusher, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them add a veteran before camp next month.
Still, it’s hard not to think ahead to the 2024 NFL draft, where Chicago has two first-round selections (thanks to the trade of the No. 1 pick to the Carolina Panthers) and can address that hole.
In a 2024 mock draft from Athlon Sports’ Luke Easterling, the Bears use both selections on edge rushers to shore up an important need.
Here’s a look:
Round 1, Pick 6 (from CAR): EDGE Jared Verse, Florida State
The Bears’ first selection comes courtesy of the Panthers, who pick sixth overall in this scenario. With that selection, Chicago lands the first edge rusher off the board in Florida State’s Jared Verse, who many believe is the top edge rusher in the 2024 draft class. Last season, Verse had nine sacks and 17 tackles for loss.
The Bears did an impressive job restocking their roster on both sides of the ball this offseason, but they didn’t find a blue-chip pass rusher to impact opposing quarterbacks off the edge. That should be a primary objective next year, and after returning to school for another year of polish and experience, Verse could easily end up being that guy.
Round 1, Pick 13: EDGE JT Tuimoloau, Ohio State
Meanwhile, Chicago’s own first-round pick comes at 13th overall, where they’re able to land another top edge rusher in Ohio State’s JT Tuimoloau, who some believe could be the top edge rusher after the 2023 season. Tuimoloau is coming off a breakout year, where he had 3.5 sacks, 10.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions and four pass breakups in 2022.
If the Bears’ new additions elsewhere pan out for the most part this season, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them double-dip on edge defenders with their two first-round picks in next year’s draft. After getting one dynamic playmaker in Verse, the Bears could grab another three-down force in Tuimoloau, who can get to the quarterback with speed and power, and set the edge against the run.
