The Bears almost certainly have their own big board made up and, while we have no idea who is on it or where they land, this is my best guess.

First, a few things I considered:

• Every GM says they’ll take the best player available and I’m sure they intend to do just that. But in their ideal world the best player available would also fill a need. So, yes, need was a priority.

• I don’t pretend to be a scout, so most of these ranks are based on consensus combined with what I know about what the Bears prefer.

• The Bears prefer players with long arms. Look at pretty much every player they have brought in. Arm length is a big deal to them. Players who might be rated highly, but would have to be exceptions for the Bears include Shaq Lawson and Vernon Hargreaves. Maybe they’d make an exception for either of those players but I’m not betting on it.

• Ryan Pace always talks about explosive playmakers, so I gave preference to guys who either hurt the other team’s quarterback or help the Bears.

• I hate when people say he’s not going to be there but, for the purpose of this, I eliminated players who pretty much everyone thinks will be picked before the Bears are on the clock. They include: Laremy Tunsil, Joey Bosa, Myles Jack and Jalen Ramsey.

Without further adieu…

Bears Big Board

1. DeForest Buckner, DL, Oregon. There isn’t a more perfect fit for what the Bears need and want right now. He’d give them three good defensive linemen who can stop the run and provide at least some pass rush.

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Mock drafts are a mostly useless practice, but people like them and they’re fun to do. So here is my first attempt at a 2016 mock draft. Keep a few things in mind:

• I’m not a scout. I don’t pretend to be a scout. I’ll never pretend to be a scout. But I do read a lot and listen to a lot of scouts. I have about five people whose opinions I trust more than others. I typically lean toward people who were once in the league.

• Don’t say anyone “won’t” go anywhere. Nobody knows who is going where. Even if a team directly came out and said who they were going to take, we couldn’t believe it because they lie more times than not.

• In a First Draft Podcast with Mel Kiper and Todd McShay, Adam Schefter was adamant that three quarterbacks were going in the top 10. I’ve never heard Schefty more certain of anything so I believe him.

• A lot of these are going to be wrong. Of course they are, we haven’t even hit free agency yet. Even after free agency, mock drafts are going to be wrong. But, here goes…

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Editor’s Note: I will not watch any of the Combine. My thoughts on the charade are well known. So thankfully, Andrew is around.

I don’t care what anybody says, the NFL combine is a valuable part of the predraft process. It has become popular to understate the value of the NFL Combine but if it didn’t matter, teams wouldn’t send every scout and coach they have. The common theme amongst former scouts is that the workouts are mostly to confirm what they have seen on tape. A lot of times, however, it makes them re-watch the tape and, sometimes changes their views on certain players. We, as fans, and NFL teams are going to get a lot of valuable information this week.

The best skill position players in the league are almost always athletic freaks. Two years ago, Aaron Donald went from being a guy mocked in the third round to a consensus top-15 pick just by putting on a show at the combine. There are certainly exceptions to the rule, but not many.

The elite talents are usually obvious on tape, but the numbers are about more than separating the elite. NFL teams have minimums or bench marks that they look for at each position. Just last year, Greg Gabriel deemed current Baltimore Ravens tight end Maxx Williams as being not good enough to be selected in the first round seconds after he ran the 40-yard dash, claiming Williams needed to break into the 4.6-range to be drafted in the first round. Greg was right.

The two most important parts of the combine are the physicals and the interviews, neither of which we get to see. But there’s still valuable information that we can learn.

Here are a few things to watch for the Bears this year:

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• The fact that John Fox had a large say in drafting the roster and that he and his staff were responsible for developing the defensive talent on the Broncos should make you feel good. A lot has been written about them signing free agents from the Broncos, but they’re just as likely to try to draft the next Danny Trevathan, Brandon Marshall or Malik Jackson.

• The one thing to take from the playoffs as it pertains to the Bears is they just need more great players. Look at the big plays that have been made throughout the playoffs, they’ve typically come from each team’s best player. The Bears don’t have those guys. Getting them is the first step. The next step is getting them to play their best on the big stage.

• It’s too early to get overly excited about what the Bears “need” when it comes to the draft. A lot will change between now and then. As of this time last year, you wouldn’t have guessed the Bears would be taking Kevin White with the seventh pick with the duo of Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery. Hell, you maybe didn’t even know who Kevin White was.

• Draft hype is too crazy right now. Noah Spence went from being a fringe first-round pick at best to being mocked in the top 10. He’s a talented player but he was going against a bunch of untalented offensive tackles at the Senior Bowl. That doesn’t tell us anything.

After the jump is a Q&A I did with Jeff Risdon. Risdon is an NFL and NFL Draft Writer at RealGM, an analyst for Draft Breakdown, works on air at ESPN 961 and is the editor for SideLionReport. He spent last week in Mobile for the Senior Bowl. He’s also Lions fan, but at least he’s not a Packers fan.

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2014

Outside of Pat O’Donnell, who I think is one heck of a punter, there is a possibility this draft does not produce a single long-term starter at any of the 22 positions. That would be a nightmare scenario for the Bears. There is also, however, a chance it produces three. If Fuller, Ferguson and Sutton are not productive components on the defense moving forward, GM Ryan Pace is truly starting from scratch with this rebuild.

2013

Just…wow. Kyle Long was the steal of the 2013 draft. Eric Fisher, Luke Joeckel, Chance Warmack and Jonathan Cooper were offensive linemen taking in the top ten of this draft and Long is better than all of them by a significant margin. The Bears have gotten zero production from the remainder of the selections.

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A year ago the Bears used a second round draft pick on a defensive tackle from the southeast. They took a productive running back in the fourth and a safety with the pick that followed. This year they did the same in those three spots. This was not, as it has been characterized, a redraft of 2014. 2014 never happened according to Ryan Pace and John Fox. Those picks, more than anything else happening on draft weekend, signaled clearly the Bears have begun to rebuild their roster. They are acknowledging their talent deficiencies and turning positions over.

Is this significant? Absolutely. Phil Emery tried to build an offense around a pre-existing defense. In doing so he created a massive locker room divide that proved irreparable. The Bears were two teams. Emery’s Trestman-led offense and the remnants of Lovie’s defensive dynasty. This resulted in the Sarajevo-like disaster that was the 2014 Chicago Bears season.

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Three of the four players I profiled last week – Nick O’Leary, Jalston Fowler & Nick Perry – are still available for the Chicago Bears on day three of the draft. Who else of note is available?

• Two of the safeties I thought would be gone on day two – Josh Shaw and Adrian Amos – are still on the board. Both are potential NFL starters in 2015. Since I posted some Shaw video yesterday, here’s Amos:

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Can’t bring myself to sit on the couch and watch eleven hours of Mike Mayock making up phrases and misusing half the English language. So if you’d like to follow my thoughts over the course of rounds two and three, as always, you can do so by (a) checking out my Twitter on the right rail of this page or (b) following me on Twitter by CLICKING HERE. 

I’ll have a report on tonight’s selections posted late tonight/early AM.

The Bears spent their first round selection on an offensive weapon and it’s safe to say that if Adam Gase is a halfway decent offensive coordinator and Jay Cutler buys into his approach the Bears will be a solid offensive unit in 2015. Their defense – even with some high profile and high priced additions – needs to get younger. The Antrel Rolles and Ray McDonalds and Mason Fosters of the world are fine but they are not going to be the foundation of a sustainably great defensive unit.

Below are some names to keep in mind as rounds two and three swallow up your television this evening. I like each of the players listed but videos accompany the player in each category for which I have a particular affinity.

Inside Linebackers

Eric Kendricks, UCLA

Denzel Perryman, Miami

Bernardrick McKinney, Mississippi State

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With the seventh pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, Ryan Pace and John Fox did what many predicted they would do and selected West Virginia wide receiver Kevin White. What does the pick mean?

• It means Pace won’t be pressured into fixing the defense overnight. Nobody would have faulted the new GM for taking Beasley or Dupree in this slot and pointing to the 2014 defensive rankings. Instead Pace went for high upside and gave Jay Cutler another weapon.
• It means the Bears aren’t sure Alshon Jeffery is a true number one receiver. If they were I’d have to believe they wouLd have been looking for a complementary player later in the draft.
• It means the 2015 Bears are going to give Jay Cutler some very easy throws. I expect this offense will feature even more bubble screens than Trestman’s did but now those screens will have big play potential and not just embarrass the city of Chicago on Thanksgiving.
• It means the Bears weren’t willing to give up what the Titans wanted for Marcus Mariota. Based upon what Tennessee turned down from Philly, I can only imagine what it would have taken to pry that pick loose.
• It may mean the Bears REALLY DID commit to Cutler short term once Mariota deal died. White is big and loves to go up and get the ball. Those are Cutler’s favorite types of receivers.

Willhe be great? Who knows. But he will be interesting to watch.