However you spend your time when you watch the NFL Draft — playing the NFL Draft drinking game, guessing what is in Mel Kiper Jr.’s hair (language warning), competing in an office mock draft pool, etc. — the event remains one of the most popular events in sports, even though no game takes place. I credit the N.Y. Jets notorious bungling of drafts for this.

This year, as far as the Bears are concerned, everybody is saying the team will take an offensive lineman in the first round. This certainly makes sense, being as how the current offensive line is old and this is perhaps the deepest O-line draft in recent memory. There is, however, a strong drop off after the top five guys (Jake Long, who is already taken, Ryan Clady, Chris Williams, Branden Albert and Jeff Otah) so if there is a run on those guys before Chicago’s pick at No. 14, I wouldn’t mind seeing them take a running back like Rashard Mendenhall or wide receiver like Malcolm Kelly. I really don’t see five teams in the current top 13 going O-line, but if another team like the 49ers or Eagles decide to trade up, then all five of those guys could be gone by No. 14.

I also have concerns that Jeff Otah may be too sloppy and won’t work hard enough to survive in the NFL. Maybe I’m just a worrier. Or maybe I just have visions of Marc Colombo’s dislocated kneecap running through my head.

If the top five linemen are all gone, I actually wouldn’t mind — and I can’t believe I’m saying this — seeing the team trade (gulp) down in the draft (again) to pick up a second-tier lineman like Duane Brown and obtain (an) additional pick(s).

If they don’t get a good lineman, there could be some problems this season. I already have concerns this team will struggle to win more than six games, which may seem pessimistic but think of it this way: The team is way below average at all the skill positions offensively - with the exception of tight end - and the offensive line is really, really old. That’s not an encouraging combination. Defensively, the team has three key cogs - Mike Brown, Brian Urlacher and Tommie Harris. All have question marks. Guys like Lance Briggs, Nathan Vashar, Peanut Tillman, Alex Brown and Adewale Ogunleye are all great, but if either Brown, Urlacher or Harris are out, the run defense suffers and suddenly the team is vulnerable. Considering Brown is always hurt, Urlacher has neck and back problems and Harris can’t keep his hamstring connected to his leg, this is also not an encouraging sign.

I really feel this is the most important draft they Bears have had since coming to Bourbonnais. Last year, they went in just needing to add depth and they ended up reaching for Dan Bazuin, reaching for Garrett Wolfe and reaching for Michael Okwo. All those reaches wound up, thus far, as either busts or serious questions marks. They did get good value from seventh-round pick Trumaine McBride, but he was the exception to last year’s draft, not the rule. This year, they can’t afford to reach; there are too many holes.

Anyway, I was going to run a mock draft, but instead I’ll to the Sporting News’ mock, since they know a lot more than me.

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In other news, the Cubs have caught fire recently, winning five straight games by a combined score of 44-11. They’ve won the last four games by at least six runs. I went to baseball-reference.com, looking through old results to find the last time the Cubs had won four-straight games by six or more runs; I stopped when I got all the way back to 1984 and couldn’t find any. I did find a streak in April of 2003 when they won five games in a row by five or more runs, including a 6-1 win in extra innings at Pittsburgh that saw them score five in the top of the 10th.

The run has been remarkable and I’m simply going to enjoy it while it lasts.