2024 NFL Draft: Who is the one prospect you hope the Bears avoid?

With just two days before the draft, a few of our team members gave their thoughts on an NFL Draft roundtable.

The Chicago Bears will be on the clock in two days, and we’re running through one final roundtable with our staff.

Yesterday, we asked them to give us the one prospect (besides the obvious at number one) that we hope the Bears will draft, but today, we’re flipping the script.

Who is the one prospect you hope the Bears avoid?

Here’s what we had to say on this topic…

Josh Sunderbruch: Even though I have favorites, I sort of feel like Poles has navigated this offseason in such a way that he deserves latitude for almost anyone he picks. I don’t understand the love being heaped on Byron Murphy II, for example, but I guess I can see a way that makes sense to take him with a trade down? I’ll be a little unconventional and say JC Latham. His best natural position is the one spot on the offensive line that I consider fully locked down, so this would be an absolute headscratcher for me.

Aaron Leming: I’ll give you two names, and they are both receivers.

1. Xavier Worthy: I know he broke the record for his 40 time at the combine but I’m just not seeing a guy that is going to be overly successful at the next level. Sure, he had some big moments at Texas but his physical profile has not been a recipe for success in the NFL. Outside of just his pure size, I think he lacks a lot of polish as a route runner and ultimately, I think he’ll be relegated to a specific role in most offenses. I know a lot of folks will point to DeVonta Smith, but his level of production in college was borderline historic. They aren’t the same player.

2. Keon Coleman: Halfway through October, it felt like Coleman was a top-15 lock. As the season continued, his weaknesses became glaring. He doesn’t separate. Even worse, he’s not good in 50-50 jump ball situations. Because of his lack of speed and ability to separate, he’ll likely be relegated to a power slot role. While that holds some value, it’s not worth a second-round selection to me.

Erik Duerrwaechter: I’m not saying this because I think they would be a bad football player. But, the idea of drafting JC Latham would be absurd to me. He’s firmly a RT in the NFL, and any thought of kicking him over to LT should be ignored outright. Furthermore, if he were to get picked by the Bears, then that would result in a lot of questionable positional shuffling between himself, Darnell Wright, and Braxton Jones. The Bears seem set at OT for their OL; leave it alone and focus on more important needs like DE and WR. There’s no point in making a luxury pick when, frankly, the players already manning their positions are better than JC Latham.

Mason West: I’m going to sound like a broken record if I go UCLA edge Laiatu Latu. I think he will be good for his first contract, but I just don’t trust he will get a second. So I’m going to go with Xavier Worthy. He is a 2nd/3rd round talent that you need to draft in the first because he “runs real fast.” He doesn’t run a diverse route tree, gets knocked off his route easily, doesn’t track the ball well, has a small catch radius, may break with too many hits at 160 pounds, and has the case of the dropsies. If people can give me a reason to draft him that doesn’t revolve around his 4.21 40 time, I’m all ears, but he really is just a slot vertical threat.

Lester A. Wiltfong Jr.: I could get behind a left tackle in the first round, although I believe Braxton Jones still has room to grow as a player, but taking a right tackle like Alabama’s Latham in the first would annoy me. That would mean that someone would be asked to change sides, either the rookie or second-year pro Darnell Wright, and I’ve seen enough of the position flip-flopping to know the learning curve is often steep.

Now it’s your turn. Who is the one prospect you hope the Bears avoid?