Chicago Bears: History of picking at nine in the draft

The Chicago Bears have the ninth pick of the 2023 NFL Draft. Surprisingly, they have a pretty good history of picking players at that spot, especially recently.

The Chicago Bears have the ninth pick of the 2023 NFL Draft. They originally had the top pick but general manager Ryan Poles traded it to the Carolina Panthers. In return, the Bears received the ninth pick, the 61st pick, two future picks, and wide receiver D.J. Moore.

While Poles does not have the top pick, he still has a lot of options. Most of the teams ahead of the Bears are in need of a quarterback. Some predict that the top four picks could all end up being quarterbacks.

The Bears, with Justin Fields, do not have a need for a quarterback. That was a big reason they received a nice haul for the top pick. As a result, a lot of the players they might want could be available at nine.

Before we find out what Poles does with the pick, we should take a look at their history of drafting at the ninth spot. Yes, Poles isn’t the same as any of the other general managers the Bears have had over the years. However, we can take a look at those picks through the prism of knowing what happened in the past.

Chicago Bears have a pretty good history of picking ninth, especially recently

The Chicago Bears have picked ninth on five occasions. They picked some players who did not last very long but ultimately played well. Additionally, they drafted players who had solid careers in Chicago and some who were forgettable. In one instance, though, they ended up picking a Hall of Fame player.

Here is the list of players the Chicago Bears picked at nine.

Bob Steuber, Halfback, 1943:

Bob Steuber was the first player the Chicago Bears picked at nine. If you blinked you missed his career in the Windy City. He only played one season with the Bears, playing in only one game. He rushed for three yards and never played in a Chicago Bears uniform again.

For his career, Steuber played 19 games over four seasons. He rushed for 461 yards on 79 carries and 3 touchdowns. He also caught 3 passes for 23 yards.

Ray Evans, Tailback, 1944

Ray Evans was the second in back-to-back years in which the Bears picked ninth. However, he did not play one snap for the Bears. He eventually played one season for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Evans was an extremely athletic player. He played both halfback and defensive back at Kansas. He was also a standout basketball player. He is the only Kansas Jayhawk to have both his basketball and football jersey numbers retired. Additionally, he is the only NCAA player to lead the nation in touchdowns and interceptions made in the same season (tailbacks were the ones throwing passes back then).

Al Harris, DE/OLB, 1979

Al Harris had a nice nine-year career in Chicago. He played 117 games with the Bears. he recorded 21.5 sacks and 2 interceptions.

Harris is most known as being one of two players who sat out the 1985 season due to a contract dispute. They ended up sitting out the entire season. The problem with that move was that it was the Super Bowl season.

Brian Urlacher, MLB, 2000

At the start of the new millennium the Chicago Bears selected Brian Urlacher out of New Mexico. He was an outside linebacker and wide receiver.

The Bears had a need at middle linebacker so they converted Urlacher. The results were pretty good — he was a defensive stalwart who led the Monsters of the Midway for 13 seasons. He was the 2000 Defensive Rookie of the Year, the 2005 Defensive Player of the Year, and was named to the All-Decade Team for the 2000s. He played 182 games, recording 1,361 tackles, 41.5 sacks, and 22 interceptions.

Urlacher was an eight-time Pro Bowl player and four-time All-Pro. He continued the Chicago Bears lineage of great middle linebackers.

Leonard Floyd, OLB/DE, 2016

Leonard Floyd is a case of what could have been. He played four seasons in Chicago, playing in 54 games.

Floyd had all the talent in the world to be a successful player. His one critical negative was his weight. He played in the 230s throughout his college career. He bulked up to 244 at the NFL Combine.

Floyd needed to be on a special diet so he could gain weight and not lose too much. As a result, he was a late bloomer. Of course, with the luck of the Chicago Bears, he started to reach his potential after he left Chicago and played for the Los Angeles Rams, where he was a key to their Super Bowl win in the 2021 season.

As an example of Floyd’s play on both franchises, he recorded 154 tackles and 18.5 sacks in four seasons with the Bears. In his three seasons in Los Angeles, he recorded 184 tackles and 29 sacks.

We will see in a couple of weeks what the next ninth-overall pick brings to the Chicago Bears if Poles keeps the pick. At any rate, this will be one of the most exciting drafts in recent history.