10 NFL Combine Participants Chicago Bears Fans Should Know
The Chicago Bears enter the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine with a leg up of sorts on most of the other teams making the trip to Indianapolis on March 3.
Call it the perks of a downtrodden season. General manager Ryan Pace and his staff got an extended look at some of the most notable names in the class at the Senior Bowl, an advantage they roll with into Indianapolis and will build upon while analyzing more than 300 prospects.
Chicago's list of needs this offseason are, in a word, extensive. Quarterback, defensive backs, offensive weapons and more make for a lengthy list and figure to have the Bears spread thin in Indianapolis.
While mostly a hyped medical evaluation of all the participants, the combine presents the Bears with a look at notable positions of need all over the stock chart and draft board. Here are a few to keep an eye on at varying levels of stock, though keep in mind the Bears could choose to address these positions in free agency.
Jerod Evans, QB, Virginia Tech
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A guy like Jerod Evans could encourage the Bears to wait on the quarterback position in the draft.
Other factors could as well, but the Virginia Tech product putting on a show in Indianapolis sure couldn't hurt.
Evans, 6'4" and 235 pounds, looked good over his one year as a starter with the Hokies, completing 63.5 percent of his passes with 3,552 yards and 29 touchdowns against eight interceptions.
Due to a lack of starting experience and his status as a project, Evans will be available on the third day of the draft. But he boasts some of the highest upside in the class thanks to a live arm, ability to manipulate the pocket with his athleticism and coachable shortcomings.
If the Bears want to start a veteran like Brian Hoyer for a year or more, Evans is a great high-upside pick to groom at a low asking price. Though many names at the position keep popping up, Evans is the one likely to see major recognition if he shows well at the combine.
Jeremy Sprinkle, TE, Arkansas
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The Bears will hit tight end at one juncture or another.
Daniel Brown might develop into the future of the position, but the Bears need insurance considering Zach Miller has missed 22 games dating back to 2009. Rather than going with another veteran like Logan Paulsen, a rookie such as Arkansas' Jeremy Sprinkle could be a quality mid-round answer.
Sprinkle is a do-it-all tight end who can move and provide quarterbacks with a big target (6'6" and 256 pounds).
Though he needs some help standing out in a class headlined by O.J. Howard, the Bears wouldn't mind adding the lesser-known SEC weapon. Sprinkle could see snaps right away as a rookie in situational usage.
For Sprinkle, the combine is about rehabbing his image a bit after an untimely off-field issue. The above combination of factors make him a mid-round prospect to know in Indianapolis.
Antonio Garcia, OT, Troy
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Antonio Garcia continues to look like one of the more intriguing players in the class as the draft nears.
The Bears don't have a major need at tackle, but Bobby Massie had his problems on the right side after his first year with the team and Charles Leno Jr., 25 years old or not, needs to make some movement in the right direction soon.
As insurance, Garcia is great. The biggest knock on his game seems to be his weight, which has fluctuated between 280 and 300 pounds, according to Lance Zierlein of NFL.com.
But the rest of what Garcia presents is why experts such as CBS Sports' Rob Rang have heaped praise on him for months. Garcia has the raw tools to wind up being the best offensive tackle from this class. And while the class is a weak one overall, athleticism on the edge means Garcia could shrug off weight concerns and eventually turn into a starter.
A mid-round projection for now, Garcia is the type of high-upside guy the Bears could look at with an extra fourth-round pick.
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Derek Rivers, EDGE, Youngstown State
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Notice a theme when analyzing the combine and what the Bears might do with late- and mid-round picks?
Upside, upside and more upside. A team with a silly amount of cash to blow can go find stable producers in free agency. Letting Pace crack his knuckles and find potential starters outside of the first two rounds or so is what a successful rebuild is all about.
And few players on this list could turn into the monster Derek Rivers can be.
It's easy to write off a prospect with "Youngstown State" next to his name. Doing so to Rivers would be a huge mistake—he's an endless-motor player at 6'4" and 250 pounds tutored by Bo Pelini, who knows a thing or two about developing edge players.
Rivers is a great roll of the dice for the Bears because he could chip in when it comes to rushing the passer on a rotational basis. At the combine, all he needs to do is put on a strong showing and measure well alongside his counterparts from more recognizable and respected NFL talent mills.
Zay Jones, WR, East Carolina
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Bears fans probably remember the Zay Jones hype from the Senior Bowl.
He's worth watching again in Indianapolis.
Jones, 6'2" and 202 pounds, is a gritty player unafraid of going over the middle and doing the dirty work. Many will point to his 1,746 yards and eight touchdowns as a senior at East Carolina.
While impressive, the real number fans should know about is 73.1 percent. That is his catch rate on targets, ranking him the best among draft-eligible receivers, according to Pro Football Focus. East Carolina fed him the ball all the time and inflated his stats simply because Jones is, in a word, reliable.
Any Bears fan knows drops were a major problem last season. With Eddie Royal perhaps on his way out after failing to stay healthy, the offense could use a reliable over-the-middle presence to keep defenses honest.
All Jones has to do to cement himself as a player looking ready to join the Bears is build on his hype from the Senior Bowl. Based on what we've seen so far, that shouldn't be too hard.
Obi Melifonwu, S, Connecticut
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On paper, Connecticut's Obi Melifonwu should win the combine lottery.
Maybe the draft's most perplexing safety, Melifonwu comes in at 6'4" and 219 pounds with notable workout numbers likely to make for some catchy headlines and highlights.
"He's a freak. He's going to blow away the combine. He's fast and will post some of the best vertical and broad numbers at his position. He's going to get a lot better in the pros and he has that elite size that will get him overdrafted," an AFC pro personnel director told Zierlein.
Of course, rebuilding the defensive secondary is one of Chicago's top priorities this offseason. Even if Melifonwu doesn't ever develop the game sense necessary to counteract a high-octane passing attack, his enforcer status and ability to size up against tight ends could make for a strong fit.
The Bears—and the rest of the NFL—will remain interested if Melifonwu can live up to the growing hype.
Jabrill Peppers, S/LB, Michigan
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It's fun to think about an Eric Berry or other big names in free agency, but a major draft name such as Jabrill Peppers might also be in play.
Peppers is a guy who rode hype to a slot in the first round of mocks consistently, though he's coming a bit back down to earth as analysts realize his true position at the pro level isn't easy to figure out.
In other words, he could be there at the top of Round 2 for the Bears.
Why not pull the trigger if Peppers has a strong combine? Rang went as far as comparing him to a guy by the name of Troy Polamalu.
"Few players can match Polamalu's instincts, improvisation and flair for the dramatic but Peppers is close. He will occasionally frustrate with his over-aggressive style of play but like Polamalu, Peppers will make more big plays than he will ever surrender," Rang wrote.
Maybe Peppers is merely a hybrid player with a specialized role. But if he shows better-than-expected strength at the combine, Chicago will have a hard time ignoring defensive coordinator Vic Fangio's pleas for a multi-faceted weapon he can deploy in unexpected ways.
David Njoku, TE, Miami
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Maybe the Bears don't want to wait on an upside player who can sit behind Miller in the pecking order.
Miami's David Njoku is a borderline first-round player who could fit the team's needs at the top of the second round, maybe pairing him with a rookie quarterback.
Njoku seems destined to put on a show in Indianapolis, which is what happens when a 6'4", 245-pound tight end with extreme athleticism hits the scene and gets to put some official numbers behind his explosive college play.
While he only put up 698 yards and eight touchdowns in 2016, Njoku can line up all over the field and make huge plays after the catch.
He'd be a welcome addition to the offense in Chicago, provided the front office makes smart moves at wideout, too. The biggest issue now for the Bears is watching just how much he boosts his stock at the combine.
Jonathan Allen, EDGE/DL, Alabama
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Bears fans already know to watch some of the most interesting quarterback and defensive back prospects at the top of the first round.
If Pace chooses to go best player available, though, or simply prioritizes positions differently than some might expect, Alabama's Jonathan Allen is a name to know.
Allen is second only to Myles Garrett in the hype department among defenders, with Solomon Thomas (another guy worth keeping an eye on) not far behind him.
Winner of the Chuck Bednarik and Bronko Nagurski Award in 2016, Allen uses a 6'3", 291-pound combination of strength and athleticism to stand tall against the run and apply pressure on passers from the inside and out.
Call the versatility and disruptive nature a welcome addition in Chicago while playing with guys such as Eddie Goldman and Akiem Hicks.
A three-down player out of the gates, Allen improved by the year in college. There is zero reason to believe he can't do the same once under the guidance of a mind like Fangio.
Patrick Mahomes II, QB, Texas Tech
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By now, everyone knows to watch big names like Mitch Trubisky, DeShone Kizer and Deshaun Watson.
Patrick Mahomes II is a different story.
The hype continues to build around the Texas Tech star heading into Indianapolis, where he could steal the spotlight and catapult his stock wildly high, which would fit the nature of draft season quite well.
Few would dispute Mahomes is a project. He stands at 6'3" and 215 pounds and continued to improve in the accuracy department last year, throwing for 5,052 yards and 41 touchdowns against 10 interceptions.
As an ESPN scouting report notes, though, cleaning up the mechanical side of things and transitioning to the pros could take some time: "There's no denying Mahome's impressive skill set, but he will only succeed in the NFL if given time and proper coaching to refine his poor footwork and to make the major transition from the Air Raid offense to a pro-style system."
Still, this makes Mahomes the top quarterback to watch for Bears fans. Much about the aforementioned three has already come to light—the former Red Raiders star is a guy who could shove himself into the first-round conversation with a great showing.
If Mahomes confirms he is someone who simply needs a good fit and a coaching staff willing to be patient, the Bears will need to move him up the draft board and think long and hard about how to proceed.
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