Kiper slates LSU’s Jackson for Bears

Well that time of the year is upon us, the time when every website and affiliate even remotely linked to the NFL and college football will be coming out with mock drafts. It’s a season that is rapidly getting worse then Christmas, starting earlier every year.

Sometimes the information can be overwhelming and much of it doesn’t go beyond educated guesses, but one man to take seriously is ESPN’s draft guru Mel Kiper, Jr. So when his first mock draft of the season hit the pages of ESPN.com I took notice.

“With the 18th pick in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft, the Chicago Bears select Tyson Jackson, defensive end LSU.” At least that’s what Kiper thinks NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will be saying in late April.

Now at first glance it looks like a pretty logical pick. With the Bears inability to get to the Quarterback being undoubtedly their biggest defensive issues it would make sense for the Bears to add a playmaker to the defensive line. Additional on Kiper’s board there weren’t any offensive linemen worthy of the 18th pick and Percy Harvin went to the Jets at pick 17.

But when looking into the scouting report on Jackson it no longer seems like such a solid pick:

Strengths: Rare size (6’4”, 295lbs) for the position… Durability with 27 consecutive starts… Outstanding run defender… Powerful hitter with good tackling in space skills for a defensive linemen… Good overall awareness and recognition skills.

Weakness: Needs to show more consistent effort on the field… can win some battles with power moves, but will never be a threat to turn the corner and rush off the edge… will always be better run-stopper than pass rusher.

Now all of that information comes off of ESPN’s scouting reports so the Bears or other teams might have a different take on him as a player. But if that is the report why in the world would the Bears be interested in Jackson? He sounds like a fine player but that description is more reminiscent of Alex Brown than the terrorizing pass rusher this team desperately needs.

Now some other options at defensive end that were listed near the Bears were Florida St.’s Everett Brown, NIU’s Larry English, and Georgia Tech’s Michael Johnson. All of those players would provide more of the speed pass rush component that Lovie has always targeted for his defense and are more likely candidate for the 18th pick.

In fact all three of those players will probably be linked to the Bears in future mock drafts along with half a dozen or so offensive players. But we can all give thanks to Mel Kiper and his hair for draft season is now officially upon us.