Chicago Bears: Which edge prospect fits best at No. 8 overall?

Marcus Davenport, UTSA

We opened up a little discussion on Davenport last week, but for those that missed it, here’s a rundown.

With the UTSA, you’re getting a pass-rushing prospect with all the raw tools you want in a dominance edge defender and a guy that projects profile-wise onto Ryan Pace’s radar like a Bat-signal.

He’s tall (6-foot-6), long (almost 34-inch arms), fast (4.58-second 40) and was incredibly productive in college. His combination of all those physical tools was simply too much for the competition he played against.

And that’s also where Davenport leaves you with some questions marks.

How much of Davenport’s dominance was due to him playing against the likes of Rice and North Texas? Will he have the same impact against NFL talent, or will he face an incredibly steep learning curve?

The second is more likely, I think, if you take his Senior Bowl practice performances into account.

Davenport doesn’t really have a ton of technique to fall back on in terms of counter-moves, relying mainly on bull-rushes and quick bursts around the edge to beat blockers. And that alone won’t cut it on the professional level.

Also, though he has the athletic ability to run with running backs and make plays in coverage, his footwork needs work there, too. Anything over than a wheel route might be a chore to ask Davenport to cover.

That’s not to say that Davenport won’t be able to learn any of this. He’ll have a good coaching staff to work with from an outside linebacker perspective.

And I’m sure the Chicago Bears will be quite interested in seeing him become the Danielle Hunter-type he’s projected to be.

That said, if the Bears do take him, it will take some time. Even Leonard Floyd was arguably less raw coming out of college. That said, Davenport could be interesting from a pass-rush pairing with the Bears’ third-year linebacker.