The 2025 NFL Draft landscape will shift after the Super Bowl and the start of free agency in March. However, for teams like the Chicago Bears with clear roster needs, their early-round targets in February are likely to stay the same come April.

There’s no doubt GM Ryan Poles will use multiple early draft picks on offensive and defensive linemen this year, even if they win the Trey Smith sweepstakes in free agency. The Bears could potentially have four starting jobs up for grabs on the offensive line. Smith would be a monster upgrade at guard, but the team’s needs at center, the other guard, and possible left tackle can’t all be filled in free agency.

Enter the latest 2025 NFL mock draft from longtime draft analyst Luke Easterling, who sends Chicago a plug-and-play guard in Round 1: Alabama’s Tyler Booker.

“I know, I know,” Easterling wrote. “An interior offensive lineman in the top 10? The Bears will be in no-man’s land if the board falls this way, with no clear-cut prospect on the board who screams “top-10 pick.” So, what’s clearly the biggest need? Helping Caleb Williams as much as possible, as soon as possible, with as many offensive line upgrades as possible. Booker is a polished, high-floor player who will make an instant impact.”

I love the breakdown by Easterling, who’s 100% on point with what the Bears’ top priority must be: do everything possible to keep Caleb Williams out of harm’s way in 2025.

Williams was sacked an NFL-high 68 times in 2024, and while he’d admit some of those sacks were his fault, a great majority of them were the result of a leaky offensive line that was especially hamstrung by its interior.

Enter Booker, who’s gaining momentum as a potential draft target for the Bears. The 20-year-old two-year starter packs a massive frame into his high-level run blocking and fantastic anchor against power rushers in pass protection. Translation? He’s exactly what the Bears need, and if paired with Smith, would give Chicago their most talented tandem at guard in decades.

The Bears’ offensive line upgrades didn’t stop in the first round of Easterling’s NFL mock draft; in Round 2, Chicago snags Minnesota offensive tackle Aireontae Ersery.

Ersery is an intriguing left tackle prospect who some analysts think will get kicked inside to guard because of some athletic limitations, but his physical makeup was cut from an NFL offensive tackle mold. He’d get a chance with the Bears to prove he could be a long-term option at left tackle, even if he maxes out as a good (not great) starter.

The Bears’ offensive line could use a whole lot of ‘good’ right about now, so even if Ersery doesn’t have elite offenisve tackle traits, he still profiles as a prospect whose ceiling might be higher than Braxton Jones’.

The next two picks in Easterling’s mock draft pivot to the Bears’ defensive line, with Ohio State edge rusher JT Tuimoloau at No. 41 overall and Texas DL Alfred Collins at No. 72.

At one point in Tuimoloau’s college career, he looked like a surefire top-10 pick. The shine wore off his scouting report a bit, but he maintains an appealing NFL projection as a three-down edge defender in the pros.

Overall, kudos to Easterling for stringing together three picks that would grade a solid ‘A’ if this 2025 NFL draft class comes to fruition.

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