What Chicago Bears must be prepared to do to draft Ashton Jeanty

Ashton Jeanty remains one of the focale points of the draft as the top back and the Bears have a greater need for an all-purpose starting running back than they do just about any other position.

Maybe only edge rusher is as big of a need for them now that they’ve addressed the offensive line, and they have starters at the edge position. They always can find top edge candidates suitable for their particular scheme into Round 2.

Could they find someone better for their offense than Jeanty anywhere in the draft? It seems unlikely.

There are other good backs in what is an excellent crop of backs overall, but Jeanty is the standout.

The latest mock draft from the website Drafttek.com, the site that for years has been the one posting the draft value chart started by Jimmy Johnson, has Jeanty as the 10th pick overall to the Bears in Round 1.

DraftKings currently has the Bears as odds-on favorites to draft Jeanty at No. 10.

It seems entirely unlikely with all of the noise being made about the Raiders and Pete Carroll hoping to draft Jeanty.

The 33rd Team’s James Foster has the Raiders selecting Jeanty in his most recent mock draft.

Mocks for ESPN’s Field Yates, CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell and Pro Football Focus’ Max Chadwick all had Jeanty landing with the Raiders.

The logic behind this is sound, but one other possibility often mentioned in mocks is how Dallas covets Jeanty and will trade up with the Raiders, who actually need wide receiver help more than anything else. Still, it’s hard to see the Raiders satisfied to move back to No. 12 and take a less prospect.

There is a way the Bears can circumvent all of this and still acquire Jeanty for themselves.

They need to trade up and pick Jeanty before the sixth overall pick routes him away to Las Vegas or Dallas.

The Bears are equipped to do this. According to Drafttek’s value chart, they could simply offer one of their second-round picks and move all the way up to fifth and grab Jeanty.

Draft Pick Value Chart

Click here for full seven-round value chart by Drafttek.com

There’s a problem here, though.

Jacksonville is in the fifth spot, needs defensive tackle help and it’s viewed by many mocks as an ideal place to land Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham. The Jaguars may not want to trade back to 10th.

A trade up to No. 5 from 10 is easily managed by the Bears with their second-round pick as trade bait. In fact, the chart says the Jaguars would need to give them a fourth-rounder back, or even third-rounder. If the Jaguars are set on Graham, though, GM Ryan Poles would be out of luck.

That leaves the Bears needing to move all the way up to No. 4 in a trade with New England, which has many needs and can use an extra second-round pick as they try to bolster the offensive and defensive lines.

The Bears could also manage this trade with a second-round pick, according to the Drafttek chart. The Bears’ second-round pick and their first-round pick for the draft’s fourth overall pick is still a balanced trade.

According to the chart, the Bears shouldn’t need to sweeten this. If it meant trading a sixth-round pick, as well, just to sweeten the deal, they’d be out of luck because they already traded their sixth-rounder away to acquire Jonah Jackson. They would need to trade a fifth and then the Patriots would need to throw in an extra pick, as well, in order to balance out the deal.

Even by trading a second-round pick, the Bears still would have a second-round pick left to use for a defensive end and a third for either a safety, extra offensive lineman or tight end.

If the Bears want the most dangerous all-around back in the draft to plug in behind their new offensive line and take pressure off of Caleb Williams in the passing game, they need to be ready to move up ahead of the Raiders and make a deal.