How Falcons Kept Bears from Landing Needed Edge Rusher

Maybe it was a little bit of revenge, probably coincidentally.

Bears GM Ryan Poles had made a comment on Thursday about being glad when the Falcons made the decision to draft Michael Penix Jr., presumably because it meant they didn't plan to draft Rome Odunze or, more likely, trade out of the spot and let someone else move there to take him.

On Friday in Round 3, the Bears may have ended up drafting Yale tackle Kiran Amegadjie at No. 75 because the Falcons took the player they had their eye on one spot earlier.

At No. 74, the Falcons selected Odunze's Washington teammate, edge rusher Bralen Trice.

"We were going back and forth just in terms of best available or position of need with a D-line," Poles said. "We were comfortable with being patient, letting it play out.

"A D-linemen went right before and we ended up taking Kiran, which we were excited about. He was the highest guy on the board. so it worked out really well."

So instead of reaching a bit for a pass rusher they obviously need, they took the player ranked higher on their board and it was the Hinsdale Central graduate Amegadjie.

It's not necessarily a pick Poles thinks will provide a starter for them immediately. They have Braxton Jones at left tackle so Amegedjie's role will be "competing" according to Poles.

"We don't really want to put a ceiling on him," Poles said. "I see the progression as potentially getting himself into a swing tackle setup.

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"He can play guard. He played guard early in his career, too. So, swing tackle, inside, outside, which is helpful. We've struggled with flexibility in the past, so he has that ability and then we'll see where he ascends to. If that means competing to start this year or next year, that's great. But if he ends up being just a really good offensive linemen, you can't have enough."

Asked about beating out Jones specifically, Poles was frank.

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"Potentially," he said. "Probably not Year 1. But again, I don’t want to put a ceiling on Kiran either. I think we'll open that up and kind of see how it goes."

The Bears are left without a defensive lineman that they needed from this draft, either at tackle or end.

They have only one remaining pick at 122 in Round 4. They could always trade back and weaken their chance of getting what Poles calls a "gold" player. At this point board no longer has the blue players that they covet most. So moving back might not be the best course, if they see someone worth taking on Saturday.

"Yeah, we'll see how the board plays out," Poles said. "We've got some gold-leveled players that are still there so as it kind of drops down we'll see if maybe we'll get two of them. But again we'll just play the numbers game.

"We don't want to do anything crazy. We have a nice setup for next year too so we don't want give away picks but if it's for a gold player we can definitely get it."

There's always the chance of using a pick from next year, as well.

The pass rusher position cries out for help now.

"We'll see how the rest of tomorrow plays out at 122 and we'll jump back in if that's a potential and hit a need," Poles said. "And then there's some other things we can go to, some of the free agents that are still out there to help us out, as well, especially with the defensive line position."

Former Bears defensive end Yannick Ngakoue is the top remaining unsigned free agent. He had just four sacks last year before a season-ending ankle injury in Week 13. It was the only season in Ngakoue's eight when he failed to reach eight sacks.

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