Last-minute 2021 NFL mock draft has Bears settling on defense in Round 1

Let’s face it, we’re all at the end of the road waiting for the 2021 NFL draft to kick off. We’ve read every scouting report, watched all the film, and have picked apart the hundreds (if not thousands) of mock drafts that have been published over the last few months.

But there’s still a couple of hours to kill before the draft finally kicks off, so why not take one more spin through a late-filed mock draft by the Draft Wire’s Luke Easterling?

In this draft-day write-up, Easterling sends the Bears Northwestern cornerback, Greg Newsome II.

Newsome has been a pretty popular pick for the Bears over the last month or so. The odds of him coming to Chicago increased significantly once GM Ryan Pace decided to cut ties with Kyle Fuller.

While Oklahoma State’s Teven Jenkins remains the most popular pick for the Bears among draft pundits, Newsome is a very real possibility if Chicago decides to stay at No. 20 overall.

Would he move the needle much for the fanbase? Probably not. But Newsome is a very talented cornerback who’d immediately be inserted into the starting lineup alongside Jaylon Johnson in 2021. That’s the kind of value the Bears need from their first-rounder.

As a result, Newsome is a logical choice.