ESPN's Top NFL Draft Pick for the Bears Isn't Who You'd Expect
About a week has passed since the NFL Draft began, and the flurry of post-draft analyses is finally starting to diminish. While the pace of daily rankings, fresh perspectives, and critical trade value articles begins to wane�much to everyone's relief�ESPN remains in full swing. This past Wednesday, they released a comprehensive "2024 NFL Draft: Ranking the 100 Best Picks, Steals, Fits." Despite the headline, the focus wasn't much on the steals or fits, but rather on leveraging the catchy triad technique.
For Chicago Bears fans, the excitement comes twofold as ESPN's Draft analyst Matt Miller places not just one, but two of the team's picks at the top of his list. Surprisingly, it's not the highly touted quarterback many expected to lead. Instead, ESPN highlights another selection as the superior choice. According to Miller, Chicago's second pick, wide receiver Rome Odunze, taken eighth overall, was the draft's standout. His selection is heralded not only for its value�ranking six spots above his draft position�but also for the strategic boost he provides to the rookie quarterback. Odunze, who topped last season's national receiving charts with 1,640 yards, is already familiar with Caleb Williams, the Bears' new quarterback, from their workouts post the 2023 college season.
While some may argue this choice is contrarian for the sake of being so, as a dedicated Bears blog, we embrace it. The genuine surprise of seeing Odunze still available at the eighth pick, thanks to the Atlanta Falcons passing on him, was a draft night highlight. Interestingly, the Bears' fourth-round pick, a punter, didn't make ESPN's top 100�a curious omission indeed!
| POLL | ||
1 MAI | 114 ANSWERS ESPN's Top NFL Draft Pick for the Bears Isn't Who You'd Expect : Do you agree with ESPN's ranking of Rome Odunze as the Bears' best draft pick? | ||
| Yes | 71 | 62.3 % |
| No | 43 | 37.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
