Tremaine Edmunds, LB, Virginia Tech

Background: The Bears have become a bottom feeding team in the NFL for the last decade or so. Imagine Jay Cutler being your team leader for 8 seasons? Yeeesh. The Bears were finally able to get out from under that horrible contract with Cutler last year and started from scratch.

They had their seminal moment when they took Mitch Trubisky last year with the Number 2 overall pick. You know it will work out because ESPN showed a ton of their fans booing the pick… ring a bell anyone? They also had the worst receiving core in the league last year when their “star” WR Cameron Meredith tore his ACL in the preseason. Add in a dash of Zach Miller destroying his leg on a touchdown catch that was overturned (honestly total BS call). Finish that off with having offensively inept John Fox as their head coach and you have a recipe for a Top 10 draft pick season.

I firmly believe that Trubisky will improve and he made some really nice plays last year with his limited supporting cast outside of his awesome running back duo of Howard and Cohen. They have a brand new offensive-minded coach in Matt Nagy. The Bears also snagged some receiving talent which includes Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, and the former 4th best QB in the NFC East Trey Burton (Wentz, Foles, Cousins?) to play tight end for them. That’s what I call an upgrade.

What’s next for them? Adding to that defensive front that lost the Jerrell Freeman, Willie Young and Pernell McPhee in the past 2 season. That defensive linebacking core which contains Leonard Floyd and Danny Trevathan, could use a jolt of energy to make them more effective.

The Pick: Tremaine Edmunds

Reasoning: Edmunds is an outside linebacker out of Virginia Tech who has blown away the competition this year with his rare combination of strength and athleticism for a linebacker. Tremaine rocketed up the draft boards after many teams were able to see his game time and his combine numbers. His elite speed allows him to attack QB’s almost at will. has the ability to cover running backs coming out of the backfield, and is an effective tackler when a player has the unfortunate instance of being in his vicinity.

Pros: Edmunds is the most athletic linebacker in this draft. He has insane lateral quickness and sheds blocks with ease. The more I watched of Tremaine, the more times I couldn’t believe how he just slipped off lineman and made the play. When he sees the play happening, he looks like a hot knife through butter. A big part of his game is tackling. He squares his opponents up and lays the wood. He is very reliable on bringing the offensive player down when he attempts a tackle. When he attacks, he flies downhill giving his opponent almost no time to evade him. He is very disruptive. On running plays, his lateral quickness constantly cuts of running lanes. He eats pass blocking running backs for breakfast when he pass rushes the quarterback.

Cons: Tremaine has very few cons to his game. There are two that I can mention. The first one is debatable, but he is 19. That is only a con at this time because he doesn’t have the biggest body for a linebacker right now. He is very strong but is on the “lanky” side as of right now. He will only get better in the coming years in an NFL weight program. The other thing that can be seen is that he doesn’t have elite instincts to match his elite athleticism. He relies on his speed, rather than diagnosing plays before they happened. A few times, he guessed right and made a spectacular play but his lack of instincts may be in issue for him adjusting to the NFL. Other times this lack of patience will lead him to be caught behind the play in the opposite direction. His instincts could improve as he gets more experience since he is so young.

The Bears need to pair someone on the other side of Leonard Floyd which should instantly help that pass rush. As we know, a great defense will help a young quarterback in his development. For the Bears, Edmunds makes too much sense at this point especially with their other top choice, Quenton Nelson, being taken at number 2 by BGN member ablesser88.

P.S. - My wonderful girlfriend is a Bears fan and for my sanity I need them to improve. I had to hide from her wrath after our victory this last season. I mean Ajayi fumbling and Agholor recovering for another touchdown? Oh boy, let’s say that was a very tough time to hide my laughter. So be smart Bears and take Edmunds at 8.

Supporting Evidence:

2018 BGN Community Mock Draft Order

1) Browns (GMinTraining): Saquon Barkley

2) Giants (ablesser88): Quenton Nelson

3) Jets (20Safety_Hazards): Sam Darnold

4) Browns (MJ1893): Josh Rosen

5) Broncos (drc242): Baker Mayfield

6) Colts (I Need a Username): Bradley Chubb

7) Buccaneers (dunc123): Minkah Fitzpatrick

8) Bears (NVEagleShark): Tremaine Edmunds

9) 49ers (Doug Pederson’s Pair of Balls):

10) Raiders (Milehighbirds):

11) Dolphins (danishdynamite_):

12) Bills (LAOJoe)

13) Washington (Eagle1987):

14) Packers (89Tremaine):

15) Cardinals (TJ “Ben Simmons” Mcconnell):

16) Ravens (PhillyEagles2011):

17) Chargers (LBCeaglesFan!):

18) Seahawks (KEZHOG):

19) Cowboys (Brawnybalboa):

20) Lions (dshelton5):

21) Bengals (Palaniappan K M):

22) Bills (BeamerWentzorBentley):

23) Patriots (jy1187):

24) Panthers (dceagles):

25) Titans (ei78):

26) Falcons (SakPrescott):

27) Saints (MidMajorMatt):

28) Steelers (SummersInVA):

29) Jaguars (RecarTabmok):

30) Vikings (AnthroEagle):

31) Patriots (PhilaWolverine):

32) Eagles (JALupowitz):

---

Now it’s time for you to vote for who YOU think the Bears should pick in the 2018 BGN Consensus Mock Draft.