foxsports.com
With the 2024 NFL Draft now having come and gone, each team is left with a new group of young talent looking to make their mark in the NFL. For the Chicago Bears, this year's draft was about finding their new signal caller and surrounding him with talent to succeed, as well as adding depth in the trenches on both sides of the ball. As the dust has settled on this year's draft, let's break down each pick.
Round 1: Caleb Williams, QB
Grade: A
Caleb Williams was the no-brainer correct pick. I struggle to give this any higher than an A, even though I think Williams is borderline generational, but they made the correct choice here. If you missed it, you can read my full thoughts on Caleb Williams here, but essentially, I believe the Bears set themselves up nicely for the future in this draft, getting a blue-chip quarterback prospect to lead them back to the playoffs.
Round 1: Rome Odunze, WR
Grade: A
The Bears also did a great job surrounding their new quarterback with weapons, including Rome Odunze. I don’t think this was some crazy value, but they clearly learned from their mistakes with Justin Fields and didn’t hesitate to give Caleb the best weapons possible for him to succeed. I absolutely love the Odunze pick, and even though it was pretty commonly mocked, I think this is one of the more fun first-round picks. I broke down Rome Odunze's game in its entirety here.
Round 3: Kiran Amegadjie, OT
Grade: A
Despite not being a top-10 tackle in this class for me, I did have a third-round grade on Kiran Amegadjie, and getting him there in the third at one of the more valuable positions is a very good pick. He doesn’t have to play right away, and I think he could even be a guard at the next level, but this is a great pick on a developmental tackle with good upside.
Round 4: Tory Taylor, P
Grade: N/A
During the NFL offseason, I spend way too much time cramming in tape of players, and as a result, I just simply do not watch punters, kickers, and long snappers. With that being said, there are not a ton of punters I am familiar with, however, I did watch some Iowa games live so I do remember Tory Taylor because he was on the field so much. Taking a punter in the 4th round is bold, so I sure hope he is good! I personally just wouldn’t draft those guys, but I’ll keep my positional bias out of it and give it the cop-out N/A grade.
Round 5: Austin Booker, EDGE
Grade: A
I do love the Austin Booker pick however. The Bears rounded out a great class by trading back into the draft to get an edge that I had a 4th-round grade on in the 5th round. The Bears edge group is not great behind Sweat and Austin Booker is a guy that can come in and get pass rush reps while he develops and has the upside to become a low-end number two guy.
Final Grade: A
