Top Draft Prospect Says Chicago Bears Met With Him More Than Any Team

The Chicago Bears are playing a fascinating espionage game, with the NFL draft now less than 24 hours away. Nobody can say for sure who their priority target will be at #9 overall. They likely have a short list of players they would take. It’s also likely GM Ryan Poles has contingency plans in place if he decides to move down. The obvious question is who they may target in such a scenario. We may have an idea of that based on new information coming from Matt Lombardo of Heavy.com.

He spoke with Georgia pass rusher Nolan Smith about the pre-draft process. It was here the young defender unloaded some interesting information. It seems two teams have spent lots of extra time on him over the past couple of months. One is the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles, and the other is the Bears.

The intrigue of Smith is easy to understand. While undersized by edge rusher standards, he’s a freak athlete with blistering speed and explosion. He also has a reputation for being tough as nails. His 2022 was going really well, notching three sacks in his final four games before a torn pectoral ended the season.

The Chicago Bears’ interest in Smith is understandable yet confusing.

At first glance, athletes like this guy are rare. He’s 6’2, 240 lbs, and boasts 4.39 speed. They don’t grow guys like that on trees. However, Smith also doesn’t meet the size and length requirements the Bears brass have preached for months. He’s too short and light to be a traditional 4-3 defensive end. His arms are under 33 inches as well, which is a problem against bigger NFL tackles. If one looks at the history of Matt Eberflus’ defenses, he never deployed players like Smith in them.

Perhaps he’s been convinced to make an exception. Many compare Smith to Eagles star pass rusher Haason Reddick, fresh off 16 sacks last season. The two are identical in size and athleticism. It’s worth noting Reddick was a far more proven pass rusher in college, though. Smith had only 12.5 sacks across four seasons at Georgia. This is a case where the Chicago Bears view a prospect as their backup plan. Smith could be on their list of names were they to trade down from #9 overall.

Either that or this is a clever ruse by Poles to get somebody nervous about the edge going to Chicago and thus trading up to get him.