MOBILE, Ala. — The Senior Bowl is the most prestigious college all-star game, but this isn’t where the Bears will look for someone to draft in the first round. None of the players in the mix to go No. 1 overall — or even in the top 10, assuming the Bears trade back — is here.
But for a team that needs almost everything, they must nail their mid-round picks. The Bears have a second-rounder (No. 56), a third (No. 65) and two fourths (Nos. 103 and 134), and the Senior Bowl is the perfect place to pursue those prospects and ideally identify some gems who will slip to the late rounds or even go undrafted.
They have a full delegation in Mobile, including coach Matt Eberflus watching from the sideline at practice Tuesday, and it’s advantageous that offensive coordinator Luke Getsy is the coach of the American team for the game on Saturday (1:30 p.m., NFL Network).
It’s a chance for Getsy to showcase his ability to run a team in front of every personnel department in the league, but, more vitally for the Bears, it’s like having a spy embedded among the players they’re considering.
“That’s the most important reason I’m here,” Getsy said after practice at South Alabama’s Hancock Whitney Stadium. “This gives you a great opportunity to dive into the type of men they are . . . and we get to find that out when you get to be so hands-on.”
Bears linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi and assistant tight ends coach Tim Zetts also are on the American staff, and assistant special-teams coach Carlos Polk is with the National team.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles and assistant Ian Cunningham are working through their own evaluations of college tape and will glean a lot from the combine in February, pro days in March and visits to Halas Hall, but their coaches’ reports this week are equally valuable.
“Is this guy a baller or not?” Getsy said. “You get to see the subtle movements, how they handle change, how fast they can learn something and then go out and perform it. That’s the world we live in [in the NFL]. We can’t do the same thing every week; you’ve got to be able to adapt.”
Teams can hit snags after they’ve drafted a player because he struggles to pick up the playbook or misses things in meetings, and it’ll be easy for Getsy to tell if that’s happening this week. The Raiders are getting a similar view, by the way, with defensive coordinator Patrick Graham coaching the National team.
It’s a loaded week for Getsy between planning practices and relaying insight to Poles’ staff.
“I even catch myself in the middle of practice taking a second to step back and actually evaluate a little bit rather than trying to coach,” Getsy said. “Just trying to collect all the information that we can.”
Many players on Getsy’s team are of interest to the Bears, including Auburn pass rusher Derick Hall and Houston wide receiver Nathaniel ‘‘Tank’’ Dell. Hall is one of several players here that Getsy recruited when he was Mississippi State’s offensive coordinator in 2018.
“It was cool to see him again,” Hall said. “He really walked around and got together with everybody during practice. His intensity level in the meetings and the practice speaks volumes.”
The Bears’ biggest needs are pass rushers and offensive linemen, and their staff saw strong candidates throughout the afternoon. Players also went through a whirlwind of interviews Monday, which Army pass rusher Andre Carter — a possible second-round target — called “a lot to process.”
Ohio State offensive tackle Dawand Jones, a former teammate of Justin Fields, dominated some of the top pass rushers. Many analysts projected him as a second-round pick, but, at 6-8, 360 pounds, he could climb into the first round.
The Bears still have nearly three months to arrange their draft board, but this week is a valuable early step in the process.
