The question has never been if he wants to play for them.
If players were allowed to choose their teams Thursday instead of the other way around, Ezekiel Elliott would walk across the Auditorium Theatre stage, hug commissioner Roger Goodell and put on a Bears cap.
The Ohio State running back wants to play for Bears running backs coach Stan Drayton, who coached Elliott for his first two seasons on the Buckeyes.
He considers Drayton family, and hasn’t been shy about wishing for a reunion. He said so as far back as the NFL Scouting Combine in February, and again after an NFL Play60 event at Grant Park on Wednesday.
“I would love to play for Coach Drayton again,” he said. “That’s my guy. That’s my Day 1, for sure. I know my career would be in great hands playing under him.”
When Elliott said the Bears were “in love” with them, GM Ryan Pace wasn’t surprised. Drayton recruited him out of high school.
“I know how those two feel about each other,” Pace said Wednesday at Halas Hall.
He’s why, when Elliott visited Halas Hall last week, he felt at home.
“Honestly. I love the staff,” Elliott said. “I think I would fit in very well with their culture. I want to go play for Coach Drayton again. That’s my guy.
“In Chicago.”
It’s more than wishful thinking.
Elliott wouldn’t be talking with such enthusiasm the day before the draft if he didn’t believe it could happen — that the Bears could select him with the No. 11 pick.
“I feel like the feeling was mutual,” he said. “I feel like it definitely was.”
That’s the more complicated end of the equation.
Elliott might be the sexiest pick the Bears could make, but is he the right one?
Despite their pursuit of the Broncos’ C.J. Anderson in free agency, the Bears have needs that go beyond running back. Any front-seven defender or left tackle would more immediately fill a more glaring need.
Coach John Fox, too, has stated a desire to ride a “wave” of running backs — including Jeremy Langford and Ka’Deem Carey — rather than a bell-cow. In Denver, he had three different single-season rushing leaders in four years.
Still, Pace has vowed to select the best available player. Many evaluators consider the 6-foot, 225-pounder — who gained 3,961 rushing yards, the second-most in OSU history in only three seasons — a top-five talent. Pro Football Focus called him the most complete running back prospect since Adrian Peterson.
“I think if you’re taking a running back that high, he better have special traits,” Pace said Wednesday at Halas Hall. “You better feel that he’s going to be a special player. And if he does, then it’s worth making that pick.”
Drafting a running back that high isn’t trendy, as more executives believe quality players there are fungible.. Two running backs were selected in the top 15 last year, the most since 2010. There wasn’t a single one taken in the first round in 2013 or 2014
Elliott, with a confident smile, believes running backs are worth it.
“I’d ask why — why do you think we’re not that valuable?” he said. “I tell them to watch the film, obviously.
“Watch the film and see a running back that can do everything, and how he can leave his mark on the game.”
Whether Elliott lasts to the 11th pick is another question. The day before the draft, he knows he’s done all he can.
“That’s not my choice,” he said. “I think I gave every team all the reasons to pick me. If they pick me or not, I can’t control at this point. I think I had a great combine, I had a great pro day, I had great meetings.
“I think I’ve maximized my opportunities.”
