Why Jared Verse should be on the Chicago Bears’ radar with No. 9 overall pick

As much as Bears fans might want the team to take a receiver at No. 9 overall, Florida State’s Jared Verse might make a ton of sense with the team’s second first-round pick.

Offense. Offense. Offense.

That’s the name of the game in the NFL these days, and it’s all a lot of Chicago Bears fans are thinking about with their two first-round picks in the 2024 NFL Draft.

With the inevitability of the Bears taking a quarterback — most likely Caleb Williams — with the No. 1 overall pick looming, it’s extremely tempting to imagine a rookie pass-catcher like Malik Nabers, Rome Odunze or Brock Bowers going to Chicago with the ninth overall pick. After all, why not give the team another major weapon aside from DJ Moore and Cole Kmet to help your young quarterback?

However, the likelihood of any of the three top receivers — Marvin Harrison Jr. (who will be a top-5 pick), Nabers or Odunze — being around when the Bears pick at No. 9 isn’t great. Meanwhile, Bowers, who is awesome, might opt for a more premium position at ninth overall.

Which takes us to a player we might have been sleeping on for a bit but has reintroduced himself resoundingly this week at the NFL Combine: Jared Verse.

The Florida State defensive end, who posted nine sacks in each of his last two college seasons, has turned some heads in Indianapolis with a complete athletic performance the Bears will be sure to love.

In particular, his explosiveness, which looks so obvious on film as he blasts through and around offensive tackles, was apparent in athletic testing as he posted elite numbers in the vertical jump (35”), broad jump (10’7”) and 40-yard dash (4.58) at nearly 6’4” and 254 pounds.

And in case that wasn’t impressive enough, Verse also threw up 31 reps on the bench press, putting him in very rare company among edge prospects to come out of the draft in recent years.

Any time you’re alone in a group with Myles Garrett, you’ll take that.

On top of that, Verse made sure to drop a little ear candy for Bears fans when discussing his brief meeting with the team, saying he’d love the opportunity to play alongside and learn from Montez Sweat, an athletic freak in his own right.

If you want to learn more about why he’d be with the pick at No. 9, check out our own Jacob Infante’s scouting report on him.

While there are some concerns on the physical side — less-than-elite arm length and size — just about everything else checks out. His raw athletic talent, explosive hands and relentless motor would make him a strong compliment to Sweat and continue building out a Bears defensive line that got a whole lot better in 2023 after Sweat’s arrival.

On top of that, he should be able to play every day and fill in admirably against the run, which Matt Eberflus values in his edge players. As many prominent defensive coaches say, you have to earn the right to rush the passer by winning on early downs. Verse is a guy who could help you do that.

While Dallas Turner is the better athlete and Laitau Latu is likely a better pass-rusher at this stage, Verse may well be the most complete overall player with room yet to grow.

So if the Bears don’t have that option to take one of the offensive players they covet at No. 9, don’t be surprised if Chicago’s card turns up with his name on it.