In what could be the most important draft the Bears have had since they moved training camp to Bourbonnais, the Bears drafted 12 players at nine or 10 different positions (depending on where they play the late-round picks).

Per usual with a Jerry Angelo draft, there were a couple of mild reaches (none on the level of last year’s second-round selection of Dan Bazuin), but on the whole, it appears the team filled the most pressing needs in the early rounds, chose who they felt were the best players available in the middle rounds and then patched some other holes with their seventh-round picks.

Let’s take a look at the first few draft picks. We’ll take a look at the later rounds in an upcoming post.

Chris Williams, OT, Vanderbilt - A high-character guy with speed and a high level of talent, Williams fits snug with the (post-Tank Johnson) Angelo-Smith era. As has been well-publicized, this pick allows John Tait to move to right tackle and allows John St. Clair to move back into a reserve role at guard and tackle, a role that better suits him than starting right tackle. It would be naive to say that all the woes of the offensive line are solved by one draft pick. However, Tait is an average-at-best left tackle but an above-average right tackle. Olin Kreutz is a Pro Bowl center, Roberto Garza is an underrated guard. This becomes a make-or-break year for Terrence Metcalf, but then again, we’ve been saying that for four years and he’s still around, so the Bears must believe in him. Point being, the line isn’t so terrible anymore, even with just this one upgrade.

We’ll take a look at where the “experts” ranked the picks heading in. Here’s how they had Williams.

The Sporting News (2nd among offensive tackles); Rivals.com (3rd); Pro Football Weekly (5th); Draftdog.com (3rd). Average = 3rd. Williams was the third tackle picked, fitting the consensus. Personally, I admit I was rooting for Rashard Mendenhall here, with hopes of getting Sam Baker or Duane Brown in the second round. However, both of them were taken in the first round; the Bears would have been forced to choose among tackles who are probably not ready to start in the NFL just yet. In the end, therefore, they got the pick just right.

Grade = A.

Second round

Matt Forte, RB, Tulane. By most accounts, this was a bit of a reach. However, there was a very real possibility that Forte would have been gone by the Bears’ next pick at No. 70, so it wasn’t a huge reach. Forte is a Ced Benson-style of back, which is causing some fans to become worried, but as long as Forte enters with enthusiasm and a strong work ethic, he’ll already have two things Benson is generally regarded as lacking.

TSN (12th), Rivals (10th), PFW (6th), DD (9th). Average = 9th. He was the fifth back taken. I take more stock in PFW than the other publications here, so the pick doesn’t seen so bad, but once Felix Jones, Rashard Mendenhall and Chris Johnson went back-to-back-to-back late in the first round, I’d just have soon passed on an RB until round 3, with a possible exception made for Ray Rice.

Grade = C+.

Third round

Earl Bennett, WR, Vanderbilt. Not a flashy pick here, which is what then-available Mario Manningham would have been. Still, at No. 70 Bennett went about where the consensus of draft experts say he should have. He’s productive if not spectacular, sort of like, how one colleague of mine put it, Bernard Berrian was coming out of college.

TSN (13th), Rivals (8th), PFW (13th), DD (9th). Average = 11th. Bennett was the 11th WR taken, further proof that this pick was right on with the consensus. Doofuses like me like flashier picks, but in the end, this is a solid third-round pick.

Grade = B.

Marcus Harrison, DT, Arkansas. This certainly smells like a BPA pick (best player available). Harrison is a big, mean, nasty defensive tackle that was No. 40 on the player rankings by Rivals.com. Taken at No. 90, then, is a steal. The downside to this pick is that Harrison has some character issues, including an arrest for marijuana found in his car. Unlike Manningham, however, Harrison was forthright about the issue in interviews for the draft. The Bears tend to be a team that give second chances if a player seems sincere and is vouched for by teammates/coaches (which, remember, Tank was). Harrison, in the third round, is a moderate gamble.

TSN (5th), Rivals (5th), PFW (5th), DD (8th). Average = 6th. Harrison was the seventh defensive tackle taken, another signal that this is a steal. The off-the-field issues are still a concern, but it’s better to gamble on the No. 90 pick than the No. 14 pick.

Grade = A.

Now, keep in mind that these grades aren’t necessarily based on the talent level of the players. They’re simply given in comparison to the consensus among the experts, which has its place, because even if you love a guy and want to take him in the second round, why do that if you know he’ll still be around in the fourth round? That’s why the Bazuin pick last year drove people mad; it’s not that they hated Dan Bazuin; they just hated him as a second-round pick. (That’s the same reason why in fantasy baseball drafts this year, you waited until the third round to pick Nick Markakis, even though he’ll probably produce at a first-round level. Why waste a first-round pick on him when you can take him two rounds later? But now I’m comparing the NFL Draft to a fantasy league, so I’ve completely lost my mind) Anyway, this year the Bears seemed to have a better feel for when guys were going to get drafted.

Overall grade for first three rounds = B.