Chicago Bears: Wild card Kylie Fitts a diamond in the rough?

The Chicago Bears waited a long time before finally grabbing an edge rusher, selecting Kylie Fitts in the sixth round. Could Fitts turn out to be this year’s Ryan Pace draft steal and become an important player on the Bears’ defense?

Going into Day 3 of the 2018 NFL Draft, Ryan Pace stressed the importance of not reaching for an edge rusher in spite of the Chicago Bears’ obvious need at the position.

To be sure, they tarried quite a long time before taking one, finally grabbing Utah edge defender Kylie Fitts with the No. 181 pick in the sixth round.

To some, waiting that long to take an edge rusher seems like a tremendous miss.

Why take someone like James Daniels in the second round or Joel Iyiegbuniwe in the fourth instead of the top remaining edge prospects?

And as much as everyone loves Roquan Smith, why not shoot for a top edge talent in the first round, especially given the lack of surefire prospects in that group?

Perhaps the Bears believe that they got one after all.

Though Fitts comes with injury concerns, he also carries the upside of a legitimate top-10 edge defender in this year’s draft. And his athleticism and size as an outside linebacker could position him to make a difference right away for the Chicago Bears if he can remain healthy.

In fact, if you look at Fitts’ profile more closely, you’ll see that he projects nearer to the top of the edge rusher heap than you might think.

If he actually plays that way, he could be a draft steal after the manner of Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen before him.