Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune answers your questions.
“With so many needs going into the draft, will Ryan Poles double up on any position? — @joe_vizo”
“I will be as direct as I can: It’s way more important for Poles to find players who can be contributors than it is for him to fill specific roster ‘needs’ that you and I can identity right now. Fast forward to the spring of 2024, and no one will look at his draft picks from this year and say, ‘Hey, they got these two guys and they plugged holes in 2022.’ We will look at the 2022 class and ask how many of those players are in a position to help the team win in 2024. Could they double up on certain positions? Sure. Are there positions where they need two or more players? No question. What’s most important is finding players who can stick and be part of the future — no matter what position they play.
I totally agree with this but I think it’s important to point out here that “drafting for need“ is something that the Bears will be doing almost no matter who they take in the draft this year.
There are generally two ideal approaches to the draft. You can plug all of your holes in free agency and then take the best player available. If you are a competitive team in good shape, this is the path you take. However, if you are a team like the Bears, you go for door number two. You leave all of your needs open and then take the best player available at a position of need. And, boy, do the Bears have needs.
They need players that all three levels of the defense, they need wide receivers and they need offensive lineman. There’s almost nowhere other than running back and quarterback where they won’t be looking for an upgrade drafting for depth at either of those positions is not out of the question. It’s really unlikely that the best player available won’t be filling a need.