By Antonio Garcia
Editor-in-Chief
The Chicago Bears turned heads at the 2017 NFL Draft on April 27 after moving up one spot in the first round to draft North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.
“I wanted them to draft a defensive player [the Bears] already signed a quarterback,” said HWC student Michael Avalos.
The Bears General Manager Ryan Pace traded the third overall selection, a third-round, fourth-round and 2018 third-round selection for San Francisco 49ers second overall pick.
Trubisky, who only started 13 games during his three-year career at North Carolina, was the first quarterback selected in the draft followed by Texas A&M quarterback Patrick Mahomes II, who was selected tenth overall by the Kansas City Chiefs, and Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson, who was selected twelfth overall by the Houston Texans.
“They traded way to much to get [Trubisky], I don’t think he will be very good,” added HWC student Miles Cherry.
Trubisky will be the fourth quarterback on the Bears’ roster behind former Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback Mike Glennon, who signed a three-year, $43.5 million contract this offseason, former Dallas Cowboys back-up quarterback Mark Sanchez and Connor Shaw, who returns from a season-ending fractured leg sustained during the 2016 pre-season.
The Bears then traded their second and seventh-round picks to the Arizona Cardinals for Arizona’s second, fourth, seventh, and 2018 fourth-round picks, and drafted Ashland University tight end Adam Shaheen in the second round.
“I don’t understand why they are trading all their picks, [the Bears] need young players,” said Cherry.
Shaheen, who played one year of college basketball at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown his freshman year before transferring to division II Ashland University, caught 129 passes for 1,755 yard and 26 touchdowns at Ashland before declaring for the 2017 NFL Draft, according to statistics provided by Ashland University.
Shaheen will join Zach Miller, who returns from broken foot that landed him on injured reserve in week 11, former Miami Dolphin Dion Sims, who signed a three-year $18 million contract this offseason, Daniel Brown, who was re-signed and Ben Braunecker as the Bears tight ends going into training camp.
In the fourth round, the Bears selected Alabama safety Eddie Jackson, who was named Defensive MVP of the 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship. Jackson will compete with Quintin Demps, who comes over from the Houston Texans after signing a three-year $13.5 million contract in the offseason, 2016 fourth-round draft pick Deon Bush, 2016 starting free safety Adrian Amos, 2016 starting strong safety Harold Jones-Quartey and Chris Prosinski, who was re-signed in the offseason.
North Carolina A&T running back Tarik Cohen was also taken in the fourth round by the Bears and will join Pro-Bowl alternate and the NFL’s second leading rusher Jordan Howard, 2015 fourth-round pick Jeremy Langford, and 2014 fourth-round pick Ka’Deem Carey as the team’s running backs.
With their final pick, the Bears selected tackle Jordan Morgan in the fifth round out of division II Kutztown University and will compete with veterans Charles Leno, Bobby Massie, Mike Adam and Tom Compton for a spot on the 53-man roster.
Of the Bears five draft selections, three of the players selecteded played football at the NCAA division II level.
“Some of the colleges that they [drafted player from], I’ve never even heard of these schools,” added Cherry. “I hope they can actually play.”
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