In every NFL Draft, there seem to be prospects who fall out of Round 1 that surprise people.
Last year, players like Teven Jenkins, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Azeez Ojulari all fell further than the consensus had expected them to. In 2020, guys like Kristian Fulton, Josh Jones and A.J. Epenesa slipped down a considerable amount. As much as many football fans tend to say “there’s no chance Player X is available that late”, the truth is that many teams evaluate players differently from both other teams and from the media.
The Bears find themselves
To remove my own evaluational biases from what determines a “top prospect”, I used the NFL Mock Draft Database consensus big board to evaluate which players are currently viewed as likely first-round picks.