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Chicago Bears Mock Draft: Combine Week edition

By William Martin

LAS VEGAS, NV - APRIL 29: Oakland Raiders fans gather as the team selects draft picks in front of the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign on April 29, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. National Football League owners voted in March to approve the team's application to relocate to Las Vegas. The Raiders are expected to begin play no later than 2020 in a planned 65,000-seat domed stadium to be built in Las Vegas at a cost of about USD 1.9 billion. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - APRIL 29: Oakland Raiders fans gather as the team selects draft picks in front of the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign on April 29, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. National Football League owners voted in March to approve the team's application to relocate to Las Vegas. The Raiders are expected to begin play no later than 2020 in a planned 65,000-seat domed stadium to be built in Las Vegas at a cost of about USD 1.9 billion. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images) /
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Anthony Gordon, Chicago Bears
(Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

Death, Taxes, and no Chicago Bears mock draft is complete without this guy.

Anthony Gordon seems to be the guy that most Bears fans have seen quite a bit of this season and will probably continue to see this offseason. So why all this buzz from a one-year starter?

There is an awful lot of intrigue from Gordon and it starts with his background. This is a former draft pick of the New York Mets back in 2015 when he was still in high school. There is a trend of quarterbacks that played baseball at a younger age but decided to play pro football instead (see: Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray).

As a junior college transfer, Gordon found his way over to the Washington State Cougars and former coach Mike Leach’s Air Raid assault. It did take a while for Gordon to become the full-time starter, but once Gardner Minshew left for the NFL, he became the guy and he had quite some success. As a 13 game starter, Gordon set the single-season program record for passing yards (5,579), completions (493), and passing touchdowns (48). Not bad!

His quick release complements his ability to throw with anticipation and that complements how he never seems to panic in the pocket. There seems to be a ton of trust within himself and the scope of the Air Raid offense. I’ve watched the following clip below from the Senior Bowl over and over and am just impressed with how a wicked throw dropped so perfectly.

Now the Bears do not run such an offense, but that doesn’t mean that he won’t find success with them or anyone else in the NFL. Think of all the Air Raid quarterbacks we’ve seen drafted in the last few years that have had any kind of success in the NFL: Baker Mayfield, Murray, Minshew, Mahomes, etc.

I think that the NFL is going to start paying more and more attention to quarterbacks that logged a year(s) in those kinds of five wide passing attacks because those guys have had plenty of experience slinging it. Sometimes they have a ton of success because of the scheme or because of the talent or because the coaching is really good. But it feels more and more like we’re about to reach a point where these high volume passers will get serious looks at the next level.

Even after performing well at the Senior Bowl, there will still remain questions about his ability to play under center. Air Raid offenses do nearly everything out of the gun. This is something that he and former NFL quarterback Sage Rosenfels have been working on over the last couple of months, but what will it look like this week?

If you want to learn more about him, you can read here. Lots of good stuff coming from the man himself.

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