Bears’ Top Potential Options At No. 9 After Trading The No. 1 Pick To The Panthers

The Chicago Bears finally made the move we all knew they had to make, and now it’s time to take a closer look at their new draft options. Bears general manager Ryan Poles agreed to deal the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft to the Carolina Panthers on Friday.

In exchange for the first overall pick, the Bears received 25-year-old wide receiver D.J. Moore, the Panthers’ first-rounder (No. 9) and second-round pick (No. 61) in 2023 as well as Carolina’s 2024 first-round pick and a 2025 second-round selection.

Moore gives the Bears a legitimate No. 1 receiver who is under contract for the next three seasons, though only the 2023 campaign is guaranteed. Moore’s deal will pay him $19.9 million in 2023. If Moore isn’t released after the upcoming season, he will earn $15.8 million and $14.8 million in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

Even after acquiring Moore’s contract, the Bears still have close to $75 million in cap space heading into free agency.

With Moore teamed with Darnell Mooney, Chase Claypool, tight end Cole Kmet, Velus Jones, Equanimeous St. Brown and perhaps another rookie wideout, it would appear Justin Fields now has a more formidable crop of weapons to throw to in 2023.

WC Gridiron’s Jacob Infante is on the same page:

After the trade, the Bears now have the following picks available in the 2023 NFL Draft:

• Round 1-9 (from Panthers)
• Round 2-53 (from Ravens)
• Round 2-61 (from Panthers)
• Round 3-64
• Round 4-103
• Round 4-133 (from Eagles)
• Round 5-136
• Round 5-148 (from Ravens)
• Round 7-218
• Round 7-258 (supplemental selection)

With the No. 9 pick, the Bears will likely lose an opportunity to select Alabama’s Will Anderson with their first-round pick. However, Anderson may not have been the No. 1 player on Poles’ board.

There could be three players Poles focuses on now with a Top-5 prospect still potentially within his grasp.

Here are five players Bears fans may want to familiarize themselves with over the next month.

Calijah Kancey, DT

Thanks to the success of former Pitt Panthers star and future Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Aaron Donald, there is a keen eye on top interior lineman who come from the program.

One of the standouts from the 2023 NFL Combine is Panthers alum Calijah Kancey. His stature is strikingly similar to Donald and his display of pure athleticism was even more eye-opening than the Rams’ star at the combine.

According to NFL.com, Kancey scored 94 on pure athleticism and is the second-ranked player at his position overall. At 6’1” 281 pounds, Kancey ran the 40-yard dash in 4.67 seconds. That is the fastest 40-time for a defensive tackle in 20 years.

Kancey is shorter than most teams would like at defensive tackle. However, Donald’s success has helped to silence some of the critics who limit prospects at the position because of their height.

Kancey is projected to have his name called between No. 8 and No. 15 on many mock drafts. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein likened Kancey to another former Hall-of-Famer, former Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle, John Randle.

If that’s the kind of player Kancey will become, he would help to fill a huge need for a Bears defense that ranked dead last in points allowed and 29th in yardage surrendered in 2022.

Tyree Wilson, DE

At 6’6” 271 pounds, Texas Tech’s Tyree Wilson is a massive defensive end prospect. Zierlein offered an Ezekiel Ansah comp for Wilson, which might not thrill Bears fans considering the former Detroit Lions’ draft pick had just two standout seasons in 2014 and 2016 when he had 26 of his 50.5 career sacks.

Wilson is considered the No. 2 defensive end prospect in the draft behind Anderson.

As a senior, Wilson recorded seven sacks to match his total in that category from his junior campaign. Wilson seems to have less boom-or-bust potential than Anderson, but it would appear his ceiling is lower than the Crimson Tide star who could evolve into the second coming of Von Miller.

In any case, Bears fans will hear Wilson’s name a lot over the next few weeks.

Christian Gonzalez, CB

As one of the most dynamic athletes in the draft at any position, Gonzalez is a player the Bears could consider even though cornerback may not be at the top of their list of needs. Chicago has Jaylon Johnson and 2022 draftee Kyler Gordon in position to start at corner, but in today’s NFL, every team needs three capable guys at the position with the number of three and four-receiver sets a defense will face.

Gonzalez posted an impressive 4.38 40-yard dash and 41.5” vertical leap at the NFL Combine. That display followed a junior season at Oregon that saw him record four interceptions after transferring from Colorado.

The Bears could potentially solidify their corner position by taking Gonzalez and teaming him with Johnson and Gordon. The former might serve as insurance for Poles in the event he can’t re-sign Johnson, who is set to be a free agent after the upcoming season.

Jalen Carter, DT

Georgia’s defense was notoriously stingy in 2022 allowing opponents just 77 rushing yards per game. Jalen Carter was arguably the biggest reason for its dominance. Carter is a Top-2 prospect on the big boards of several NFL talent evaluators after a stellar 2023 season that saw him anchor the National Champions’ defense. On the field, Carter is considered a Pro-Bowl talent, per Zierlein, but there are questions about his maturity.

Carter was arrested on misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing in connection with a crash that killed one of his teammates and a team assistant. ESPN’s Todd McShay has Carter dropping all the way to the 12th pick in a recent mock draft. The Bears and other teams will do their homework on Carter and it is possible the arrest could hurt his draft stock.

While Carter might have been too big of a risk as a Top-5 pick, the Bears could be more inclined to take a chance on the uber-talented defender at No. 9. Still, the Bears and Poles have tons of pressure to find success with the assets they received in exchange for the top pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

The Panthers’ No. 9 spot is one of the biggest pieces and Poles may not want to risk it on a player that he believes will bring off-the-field baggage.

Poles and the Bears could meet with Carter and determine there are no concerns about his character, and they could draft him at No. 9 if he falls to them. If that happens, the Bears might be getting the steal of the draft provided no additional issues arise.

Peter Skoronski, OT

The safest and perhaps most sensible pick for the Bears could be Northwestern offensive tackle Peter Skoronski. His selection might not be the sexiest to Bears fans, but considering Fields was sacked 55 times in 2022, which equated to 14.7% of his drop backs, it’s clear how important adding protection to the offensive line is in the grand scheme of things.

The Bears have Braxton Jones–who turned out to be a diamond in the rough from the 2022 NFL Draft–at left tackle, but there is a gaping hole on the right side where Chicago could target a player like Mike McGlinchey in free agency. If Poles decides to go that route, it will make it unlikely they turn to Skoronski in the draft–unless they are looking to move Jones into a swing tackle role.

As it stands, Skoronski at right tackle with Jones at left would still represent an improvement overall for the Bears’ offensive line. Skoronski not only went to college in nearby Evanston, he hails from Park Ridge, which means there is a sentimental value to him being selected by his hometown team.

He is projected to be a Year 1 starter in the NFL, which is what Chicago needs, however Zierlein sees him as more of a guard than a tackle, which explains the lofty comparison to the Dallas Cowboys’ all-world lineman Zack Martin.

If that’s accurate, do the Bears really want to draft a guard at No. 9? If so, that figures to be a widely criticized selection, but it could make sense if the plan is to address the tackle position in free agency.

The legal tampering period for negotiations starts on Monday, March 13, so we should find out quickly which direction Chicago is headed.