2020 NFL Draft: ESPN analyst Mel Kiper’s best-case scenario for the Bears

The Bears once again have limited options in the NFL Draft after selling off future picks in trades over the last few years, so it won’t be easy to make some necessary improvements.

But ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. has a plan.

The Bears’ only high picks are two second-rounders — Nos. 43 and 50 — and Kiper would urge them to use one in a loaded wide receiver class and the other on an offensive tackle or cornerback.

That approach would neglect long-term needs at quarterback and tight end, but he believes it would be their best-case outcome for the upcoming season.

“It’s a pretty good opportunity,” Kiper said Wednesday. “I would say right now, when you’re looking at the needs of this football team and what’s out there . . . there’s a lot of depth at wide receiver. The wide receiver position, to me, is the strongest in this draft.”

Bears general manager Ryan Pace said the same thing at the combine when he raved about the variety of talented prospects the team interviewed.

The Bears need help at receiver, but it’s not their highest priority. They have a true No. 1 in Allen Robinson, who is expected to get a contract extension soon, and spent a second-round pick on Anthony Miller in 2018.

Kiper’s most optimistic outlook for the Bears picking a receiver at No. 43 is USC’s Michael Pittman Jr. or Colorado’s Laviska Shenault Jr. They are seventh and eighth, respectively, in his receiver rankings.

Shenault topped 1,000 yards as a sophomore, and last season he had 56 catches for 764 yards and four touchdowns. Kiper originally pegged him as a first-round pick, but he has dropped because of injury. Shenault had surgery on a core muscle this month.

Pittman is the son of former NFL running back Michael Pittman and erupted for 101 catches, 1,275 yards and 11 touchdowns in 13 games. He and Shenault ran the 40-yard dash in the 4.5s at the combine last month.

If Shenault and Pittman get plucked before No. 43, Kiper recommended the Bears target Arizona State’s Brandon Aiyuk or Penn State’s K.J. Hamler.

The Bears are looking to upgrade their offensive line and need a long-term tight end with Trey Burton’s contract up after 2021 (it also has a fairly doable escape for the Bears after 2020).

Beyond the second round, they pick once in the fifth (No. 163), twice in the sixth (Nos. 196 and 200) and twice in the seventh (Nos. 226 and 233).

Where are all the picks? Their first and third belong to the Raiders from the Khalil Mack trade, and they dealt their fourth-round compensation pick to the Jaguars for Nick Foles.

Meanwhile, the draft itself is in question because of the ongoing concern about the coronavirus. Kiper endorsed keeping it on schedule for April 23-25, in part because the rest of the NFL’s transactions — free agency and trades — have continued.

“I think everybody needs normalcy to set in,” Kiper said. “The draft can be done, obviously, without having everybody together. . . . It’s important to give people something to focus on and occupy their minds, and the draft’s kind of an escape during these trying times.”