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Tight finish Cole Kmet went 43rd general to the Chicago Bears.
With two-thirds of the 2020 NFL Draft formally within the books, the Chicago Bears, who've traded up or down in each draft since 2016, stayed agency. The Bears had seven picks coming into the draft, and plenty of thought GM Ryan Tempo would commerce one of many staff’s two-second rounders as a way to purchase extra commerce capital. He didn't.
As an alternative, Tempo and Bears head coach Matt Nagy stayed put, using their two second-round choices on Notre Dame tight finish Cole Kmet and Utah cornerback Jaylon Johnson. The Bears have 5 remaining picks on Day three of the draft, however right here’s how we’re grading their first two.
Tight Finish Cole Kmet
Let me preface this by saying Kmet is a good participant. My hope is that as a Chicago-area native and lifelong Bears fan, he proves the naysayers fallacious and turns into a Zach Ertz-like participant on this league. That’s my hope. However the actuality is that the Bears might have chosen Grant Delpit and as a substitute they selected a place of want they nonetheless might have simply crammed within the later rounds.
The Bears selected Kmet at No. 43, and the Browns swooped in and snagged Delpit at 44. Delpit received the 2019 Thorpe Award, which is given to the nation’s prime defensive again. Kmet is a effective tight finish — broadly thought-about to be the very best in his class — however with the addition of Kmet, the Bears have 10 tight ends on their roster, which is simply mind-boggling to consider.
Nonetheless, I’m not giving them a failing grade right here as a result of Kmet has a formidable talent set and a great deal of potential. He’s a legit purple zone and third-down menace, and his fingers and route-running are strong. He'll mechanically make the Bears offense a bit extra harmful when he’s within the lineup, and whereas his affect might not be large instantly, he might very nicely go on to grow to be a fan favourite in Chicago.
Grade: C+
Cornerback Jaylon Johnson
A shoulder harm plagued Johnson this previous 12 months, however Tempo doesn’t appear too involved about that. Tempo informed the media he was very comfy with including Johnson regardless of Bears’ staff medical doctors being unable to look at him but. Johnson had surgical procedure on a torn labrum in his proper shoulder two months in the past, however Tempo cited the cornerback’s toughness as one in every of his extra distinguished traits, and he’s not fallacious.
Johnson’s agent, Doug Hendrickson, revealed that Johnson had performed by means of a torn labrum he bought again in September, lacking only one recreation on the season. “He needed to play for his staff final season and never allow them to down,” Hendrickson mentioned, earlier than including one thing that ought to excite Bears followers: “The man’s robust as nails for preventing by means of that the entire 12 months, and he needed to compete on the mix on the highest degree.” Johnson did take part on the mix this 12 months and had surgical procedure instantly following the occasion.
Johnson’s addition to the Bears’ secondary will seemingly end in his being a full-time starter by the center of the season — if not by Week 1. He'll battle anybody he faces onerous on the perimeter, and his lengthy arms make his wingspan completely ridiculous. Plus, he has pluck and spunk for days.
As Tempo mentioned of Johnson after the choose: “Jaylon has a very good mixture of dimension, athleticism, and consciousness. He’s that bodily, press nook that makes use of his dimension rather well. He makes use of his power to his benefit, to re-route receivers. Jaylon is a very clever participant, performs the sport with glorious instincts and consciousness, and you may see it in the way in which he performs. And Jaylon’s one other man with excellent soccer make-up, actually excessive soccer character.”
The surgical procedure Johnson had on his shoulder was his third, nevertheless, so that's going to be one thing to look at transferring ahead. Nonetheless, this was a wonderful choose for the Bears.
Grade: A
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