Getty Tight end Brock Bowers of the Georgia Bulldogs.
The Chicago Bears already have an impressive set of playmakers for whoever ends up their next starting quarterback, and the No. 9 pick in the NFL draft could make the group downright indomitable.
However, not all pass-catching options would necessarily bring the same boost to the Bears’ air attack, even if all of them are elite in their own rights. That is the theory behind a warning to the franchise from Joe Tansey of Bleacher Report on Monday, April 8, to avoid selecting tight end Brock Bowers of Georgia.
Bears fans can dream about Brock Bowers in their offense for just a second. An offense with [DJ] Moore, [Keenan] Allen, Bowers and Cole Kmet could put up video-game numbers if [Caleb] Williams lives up to the hype in his first season at quarterback.
Realistically, the Bears are better off targeting a third wide receiver to spread the field, and the last thing they need to do is take away targets from Kmet. Kmet produced the most receiving yards of his four-year career in 2023, and he has 13 touchdowns in the last two seasons.
The Bears can’t stunt Kmet’s continued development, especially after his performance last season with a mixed bag of performances at quarterback. As awesome as a Kmet-Bowers tandem sounds, it does not make practical sense inside the Bears offense to work.
Bears Probably Wouldn’t Be Making Mistake by Drafting Brock Bowers in 1st Round
GettyTight end Brock Bowers of the Georgia Bulldogs.
Tansey’s is a subjective take leaning on the clichéd concepts that ‘less is more’ and ‘too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.’ He might be right, but more playmakers rarely hurt an offense as a whole — or even the continued development of playmakers within an offense — and tend merely to impact the statistical production of a player or two.
Chicago may run into similar issues by drafting a wide receiver 9th overall, which is a distinct possibility should a player like Rome Odunze of Washington fall that far in the first round. Allen is a six-time Pro Bowler in the last seven years and Moore arguably put up a better season in 2023 than his new teammate, despite injury issues and continued growing pains for former Bears quarterback Justin Fields.
It is just as easy to put four pass-catchers on the field in the form of two receivers and two tight ends as it is to split that into 3-to-1 ratio. As such, the Bears should probably just take the best player still available on their board at No. 9, whether that is Odunze, Bowers or someone else — assuming the franchise doesn’t decide instead to trade back, which is also a distinct possibility depending on how the draft dominoes fall at the top of the round.
Bears Are Considering Brock Bowers With 9th Pick in NFL Draft
GettyTight end Brock Bowers of the Georgia Bulldogs.
Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune wrote last week that the team is “surely looking at the possibility” of selecting Bowers with the 9th pick in the draft.
Bowers is a two-time first-team All American (2022, 2023) and a two-time winner of the John Mackey Award (2022, 2023) given to the best tight end in the NCAA each year.
Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN lists Bowers as the 7th-rated overall prospect on his most recent draft big board and has the tight end landing with the New York Jets at pick No. 10 in his latest mock draft.
“Bowers was an instant difference-maker for the Bulldogs as a true freshman in 2021, catching 56 passes for 882 yards and 13 touchdowns,” Kiper wrote on April 5. “He followed up that season with 63 catches for 942 yards and seven scores as Stetson Bennett‘s No. 1 target, winning his second-straight national title. He’s an advanced pass-catcher and should make an instant impact when he gets to the NFL.”