Chicago Bears: Round-by-round draft grades for each pick

Joel Iyiebunwie

Inside linebacker

Grade: C

This was a very head-scratching pick for the Bears when made, but took a couple days for me to understand. One of the main reasons why fans were outraged by this pick is because of the pass rushers that were available. Right now that area of the team is dangerously thin as they will go into the season with Leonard Floyd and Aaron Lynch as their starters at outside linebacker.

As far as the prospect goes, Iyiebunwie is a talented linebacker that was very productive back at Western Kentucky. He racked up 117 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, and two sacks in 2017. He lined up at both outside and inside in their defense.

Iyiebunwie is a little under-sized at 6-1 229 pounds, but he makes up for that being a fast linebacker with borderline-elite athletic ability. The Iyiebunwie pick raises some eyebrows about a couple of linebackers on the roster in Danny Trevathan and Nick Kwiatkoski. Fans have to keep in mind that Trevathan has two more years remaining on his deal.

Along with that, Trevathan and Kwiatkoski have had trouble with durability. The pick of Iyiebunwie gives the Bears very good depth at inside linebacker. Iyiebunwie will likely contribute on special teams out of the gate and challenge for a starter spot in a year or two.