Chicago Bears 2017 Mock draft: Four round mock
Round 1: Jonathan Allen, DL, Alabama (6-foot-3, 295 pounds)
Perhaps the Chicago Bears watched the National Championship game with visions of one of the players on the field playing in a Bears uniform. Many think they covet quarterback Deshaun Watson, but maybe their eyes fixed on another player.
I think the Bears surprise many and go after a veteran quarterback. Fellow Da Windy City writer Jordan Campbell wrote recently about the team signing Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor. This is a team that is in need of a boost quickly, and maybe signing Taylor helps jumpstart the offense.
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Signing Taylor doesn’t take them out of the running for a quarterback in the draft. They can still draft one and have him develop while Taylor starts. Look at the injuries going around to quarterbacks. If you have two dependable signal callers, you can still run the offense if the top guy goes down. Of course, the Bears can’t break the bank with Taylor.
With that being said, the Bears draft defensive lineman Jonathan Allen with the third pick.
Many view Allen as the best player in the draft this year. He is just plain dominant. He plays well against both the pass and the run. In his Alabama career, he registered a mind-boggling 44.5 tackles for loss. He also had 30.5 sacks.
Allen is a machine on the field with a non-stop motor. He has quick and heavy hands, and has a variety of moves that get him to the backfield. His awareness on the field is great, and when pass rushing he is compact which prevents offensive linemen from getting their hands on his chest.
Allen has a great story as well. Officials in South Carolina took him and his brother away from their mother at a young age. Allen never dwelled on that. “He overcame a lot,” his father, Richard Allen, said. “At a young age, you’re oblivious to the fact that you’re living in a hotel, that you’re not going to school, doing the things a kid is supposed to. He was oblivious to that.”
Teaming Allen with Akiem Hicks and Eddie Goldman would make the Bears defensive line one of the tops in football. The Bears ranked 27th against the run and 25th in rushing touchdowns allowed. Allen can come in and improve that and help make the defense one that the fans can again be proud of.