Recent Bears Draft Prospect Meetings and What You Should Know
The Chicago Bears draft prospect meetings continue to move forward at a steadily increasing rate. GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy are doing everything in their power to prepare for this year. No surprise given it may be the most challenging. Finding good players in a draft with only five picks and none of them in the first two rounds?
Not easy. Incredibly difficult actually. That’s why the Bears have to do their homework and maybe a little extra if possible. Every draft is important towards building a future for the franchise.
Recent news reflected these efforts as reports surfaced of the Bears meeting with multiple prospects privately. All of whom stand a good chance of being available to them in the later rounds. Who are they and what would they bring to the table for this team?
Jimmy Moreland (CB, James Madison)
The reservations about Moreland in the draft community are nothing groundbreaking. He’s a bit undersized, not too fast, and tends to get too physical with receivers in coverage which leads to a lot of penalties. Yet he plays the game with an intriguing mixture of aggressiveness and nose for the football.
His final two years of college he had 12 interceptions and 31 passes defended. So it’s clear he knows how to get his hands on the football. This is never a bad thing. It’s a matter of whether he can overcome his physical drawbacks smarter, more disciplined play.
Ugo Amadi (DB, Oregon)
The Bears always tend to single out players who check the box of being a leader on and off the field. Amadi was known for that throughout his time at Oregon. A man who was a team captain and the one who called defensive signals and adjustments on game day. So it’s clear Amadi has the mental fortitude for the game.
Physically? It’s harder to tell. He’s not a bad athlete but he lacks desired speed for a corner, which is why a permanent move to safety feels inevitable. The problem with that is he’s only 5’9, which is dangerously short for that position. He can be a good contributor, but it will be in a specialized hybrid role of some kind.
Miles Boykin (WR, Notre Dame)
Every year a draft class has certain players at a position that fill what is called the “triangle.” In other words a prospect who has height, weight, and speed that are rare for a position. This means they have the athletic chops of a possible star, but not all of them go in the early rounds. Most often it’s either because they aren’t polished enough or they have off-the-field concerns.
For Boykin, it’s the former. This kid from Notre Dame is a bit of a freak. He’s 6’4 and ran a 4.42 in the 40 at the scouting combine. He also jumped a ridiculous 43.5 inches in the vertical. The physical traits are there in spades. His problems lay in a mixture of raw route running and unreliable concentration. If he can work past those issues, he can be a stud.