Expert Sees Bears Picking New Name After Reshuffling Board

The 1st round is officially over. Now the Chicago Bears will enter the fray of the NFL draft tonight, though they'll still have to wait. Barring a trade of any kind, GM Ryan Pace won't be picking until the end of the 3rd round at 87th overall when the night is almost over. A long wait for Bears fans. Still, the belief remains strong they can get a good player.

The question is who? Lance Zierlein, the draft expert for NFL.com offered his own prediction with his reshuffled mock draft for the 2nd and 3rd rounds. Most saw the Bears going for a defensive back or a running back at that spot. However, Zierlein pulls a bit of a surprise instead.

Rather than go for some defensive depth or for a Jordan Howard replacement, the decision was made to add another blazing weapon at wide receiver.

Mecole Hardman would give Chicago Bears offense even more speed

The Bears signed Taylor Gabriel last year to add an element of vertical speed to their offense. It worked out well as he did indeed deliver some explosive plays for them. Zierlein seems to think if one speed demon is good, two must be better. That's why he goes with Mecole Hardman.

While he was never the primary target at Georgia, the guy was definitely one of their big-play threats. He averaged 16.0 yards per catch for his college career and scored seven touchdowns in his final season. One must wonder if playing in a more wide open system under Matt Nagy might unlock more of his potential.

No doubt the ideas of putting him and Gabriel on the field at the same time would be hard to ignore. At the same time, it would also be a risk. Hardman looks like a one-trick pony at this point. If teams can limit his vertical threat, what else does he offer as a player?

Some decent return ability but his size and route running prowess are liabilities at this point. It's hard not to feel like they could've done better.