B+
Chicago Bears
The Bears robbed the room for Paul Jr.. Final grade: B+.
by walter34 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 7 steals
· 3 reaches
The board owed the Bears one, and it paid up: Chris Paul Jr., the No. 122 name on the board, sitting there at slot 244 like a gift left on the doorstep.
If Greene III pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about. That interior defensive lineman hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.
Good work on the whole, with interior defensive lineman the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 9 they get a problem off the edge at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
You do not let an edge rusher like Princely Umanmielen reach pick 35 and blink. They did not. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
By-the-book stuff, Benjamin Morrison at slot 46 squarely in line with his ranking. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
The board had cheaper options than Donovan Jackson at pick No. 73, and it noticed. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Parker Brailsford at the Round 4 slot is a conviction pick that outran the value. It fills a real need, too.
Earnest Greene III in No. 118 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
TreVeyon Henderson at the 147th overall pick is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A top-tier linebacker at a bargain, Smael Mondon Jr. in the 169th pick, plain and simple. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Steal is underselling it; Oronde Gadsden II at the 173rd overall pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Circle this one: Joshua Gray at pick No. 203 is a fall that decides a draft. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They will replay Xavier Nwankpa at the 226th pick for years; that is how good the value is. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Taking Chris Paul Jr. in the Round 7 slot is close to grand larceny; a linebacker that good had no business lasting this long. A need, and now a little less of one.
