INDIANAPOLIS — The conversation about how lucky it is to be the Bears right now usually centers on them holding the No. 1 pick in the draft and the chance to land USC star quarterback Caleb Williams.
But that No. 9 pick is pretty good, too. They could use it to solve their next most significant deficiency by drafting a pass rusher. They had the fewest sacks in the NFL over the last two seasons, and trying to run an excellent defense without a fierce pass rush is nearly as difficult as trying to ignite an offense without a top quarterback.
General manager Ryan Poles swung big on a midseason trade for Montez Sweat, followed by a $98 million extension that made him the highest-paid player on the team, but he can’t fix the problem alone.
“We’ve got to make sure that we have somebody opposite of Sweat,” coach Matt Eberflus said. “We can never have enough of those guys because they affect the game the most.’’
The Bears need help at other “premium positions” such as wide receiver and left tackle, but there’s a strong chance they could have their choice of pass rushers at No. 9. That’s extremely rare. In 10 of the last 11 drafts, the top pass rusher went fifth or higher.
That’s partly because this class of defensive ends and outside linebackers isn’t overwhelming — there’s no obvious Myles Garrett-type talent in the group — but also simply good fortune. With four quarterbacks potentially going in the top eight picks, the Bears will have good options at other important spots.
And they’re unlikely to find game-changing pass rushers in free agency, so their focus will be on the draft. Florida State’s Jared Verse, Alabama’s Dallas Turner and UCLA’s Laiatu Latu lead the class at that position.
“The way they view me, the way they spoke to me, the way they view my film was interesting,” Verse said Wednesday of his meeting with the Bears.
Of the three top pass rushers, only Turner, 21, took a conventional route. He had 8½ sacks as a true freshman and 10 as a junior last season to propel himself into contention to be a top-10 pick.
With Nick Saban as his coach, Turner is coming from the closest thing in college football to the NFL.
“Going into this professional level, it probably won’t be anything new for me because we train as professionals,” Turner said. “It’s a day-to-day life, just having a schedule and being coached by coach Saban.”
Verse and Latu, meanwhile, are two years older and took winding paths as transfers.
Latu briefly retired in 2021 because of a neck injury at Washington, then resurfaced at UCLA and had 23½ sacks over the last two seasons. Verse began his college career at Albany after receiving no FBS offers out of high school, caught Florida State’s interest and had 18 sacks the last two seasons.
Verse still seemed a little surprised by his fairy-tale rise. At 6-4 and 250 pounds, he bears little resemblance to the wideout-sized kid the big programs overlooked.
“I wasn’t some monstrous force,” he said, estimating he’s up 50 pounds since then. “If you looked at me in high school, then looked at me today, you would probably be like, ‘What the?’ ’’
The Bears have had a putting green and dartboard in their meeting room at the combine the last three years to spark some competition, and that was Latu’s favorite part of his meeting.
“When they were telling me to get a bull’s-eye, I was getting close every time,” he said. “When they tell me to do something, I do it.”
Latu was joking somewhat, but that’s another benefit to the Bears drafting their own pass rusher rather than trying to trade for one or signing one: They can develop him into exactly what they want.
