Mel Kiper: Drafting a WR safe move for Bears

Mel Kiper thinks the Bears will draft West Virginia wide receiver Kevin White with the seventh overall pick in next week’s NFL Draft. Alabama wideout Amari Cooper would be a nice fit, there, too, the ESPN analyst said.

Either way, Kiper said, drafting a wide receiver would be a safer decision than picking a pass rusher.

“Because I think the pass rushers, there’s some concerns there,” Kiper said Tuesday. “(Nebraska’s) Randy Gregory, with obviously not having a great year and the off-the-field issue. (Clemson’s) Vic Beasley not playing the run well enough and being the guy that some games had a sack and that was his only tackle. … and (Kentucky’s) Bud Dupree, it’d be too high for.”

Outside linebacker depth means the Bears could draft a good one in the second or third round.

“History tells us you can normally find those guys a little later in the draft,” he said.

The Bears need to be sure of their pick, Kiper said, and that likely won’t happen with edge rushers.

“When you’re picking seventh, you have to get somebody that’s rated on your board in the top 5,” he said. “You’re not going to get the eighth, ninth, 10^th, 12^th-best player. You have to get somebody in the top five when you pick seventh.

“Kevin White would be worthy. Amari Cooper would certainly be worthy of that pick. (Iowa’s) Brandon Scherff, if you want to take a right tackle, a guard, he helps you immediately and solidifies a line that obviously had some major issues last year.

“If you want to get in the Marcus Mariota sweepstakes and move from (No.) 7 to 2, that’s possible.

“I just felt like at that point you take more of a sure thing than an outside linebacker who there are some concerns with.”