Chicago Bears 2022 NFL Draft: Verone McKinley an Interesting Prospect

Safety Verone McKinley offers the Chicago Bears an interesting choice in the 2022 NFL Draft. Despite being undersized, his play on the field is outstanding.

The Chicago Bears have a need nearly everywhere. That happens when the team loses 11 games in a season. Despite the talk about wide receiver and offensive line being very important, there is a hole at the safety spot. They may find an answer there in the 2022 NFL Draft.

The Bears finally stopped cutting Tashaun Gipson one-year contracts. They decided to move on. Eddie Jackson needs a partner so he could get back to his old ball-hawking ways.

General manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus want to give Jackson the help he needs so he can concentrate on returning back to form. Without doing much in free agency, that means dealing with it through the draft.

Big plays is what got the Bears’ secondary in trouble. In far too many games, they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory because the secondary gave up big plays down the stretch. All the hard work the team did to hold onto a lead or come back and take a lead late went for naught because of a big play allowed by either a cornerback or a safety.

Now there is a new regime and a new philosophy. One of the keywords that Poles wants the scouting department to use is resilience. We saw with the free agents he brought in that those players are resilient. These are players drafted late or not at all, who have chips on their shoulders, and overcame doubts to stay in the league.

Now Poles wants those types of players from the draft.

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McKinley fits that new philosophy

Verone McKinley certainly fits that description. At just 5-foot-10, scouts consider him undersized. He plays much bigger than his actual size, however.

There is a discrepancy between McKinley’s measurables and his tape. This is what NFL.com’s draft expert Lance Zierlein said about McKinley.

Productive safety who will create a classic matchup pitting the traits versus the tape. In one corner we have an undersized, short-armed safety with average speed. In the other corner we have game tape highlighting McKinley’s instincts, short-area quickness, aggressive demeanor and nose for making plays on the football.

McKinley is an ultra-intelligent football player. He has great timing and takes great angles on tackles. Additionally, he is excellent at picking up what the quarterback wants to do and then jumping on the play.

McKinley has a nose for the football. He hits the ball carrier with everything he has to try to lodge the ball out of his hands. This is something the Bears need. They haven’t been able to force very many turnovers the last few seasons. They want to get back to giving the offense a short field after turnovers. McKinley had an incredible 6 interceptions in 2021, and 11 for his career.

Evidence of McKinley’s intelligence on the fly comes below. He went after the fumble but when he got close to the ball he tipped the ball away from the offensive player so he could pick it up and make the big play.

Verone McKinley played keep away to recover the fumble!

What a heads up play ???? pic.twitter.com/QoN74PLPAL

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) November 21, 2020

The Chicago Bears need more smart, heads-up players who play as hard as McKinley. He’d be a great addition to the defense and would help bring back the Monsters of the Midway.