The Bears took outside linebacker J.T. Thomas out of West Virginia with the 195th overall pick (6th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Thomas is 6’1″, 241 pounds and he runs a 4.68 40.  Thomas is a good athlete but he’s a much better chaser than dealing with a play coming right at him.  He had 73 tackles, 7 tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks, he broke up 4 passes and he forced 2 fumbles last year.  He played in 49 games (39 starts) in his four years with the Mountaineers and he had 233 tackles, 27 tackles for a loss, 6 sacks, he broke up 12 passes, forced 4 fumbles and he had 2 interceptions.  Thomas will probably have to make his money in the NFL on special teams as he has a lot of weaknesses as a defender.

UPDATE:  (9/4/2011) – The Bears have placed J.T. Thomas on the Injured Reserve List ending his rookie season due to a back injury.

The Chicago Bears took 23-year old QB Nathan Enderle out of Idaho with the 160th overall pick (5th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Enderle is a big guy at 6’4″, 242 pounds and he runs a 4.95 40.  Enderle is a classic dropback passer and he has a very strong arm.  The Bears wanted a QB to develop to eventually be Jay Cutler’s top backup and Enderle could wind up being that guy as long as he responds well to the coaching he’s going to get.  Enderle played in 13 games (all starts) for Idaho last year and he completed 271 of 478 passes (56.7%) for 3,314 yards with 22 TD passes and 16 INTs.  Enderle played in 46 games (all starts) in his four years with the Vandals and he completed 779 of 1,427 passes (54.6%) for 10,084 yards with 74 TD passes and 60 INTs.  I like this pick for the Bears.

The Chicago Bears picked safety Chris Conte out of California with the 93rd overall pick (3rd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Conte is 6’2″, 197 pounds and he runs a 4.59 40.  Conte plays hard but he’s kind of soft.  He played in 12 games (all starts) last year for California and he had 72 tackles, broke up 3 passes, had 1 interception, 2 tackles for a loss and 1 forced fumble.  He played in 50 games (17 starts) in his four years with the Bears and he had 157 tackles, broke up 11 passes, had 2 interceptions, 4 tackles for a loss and he forced 1 fumble.  This was a huge reach for the Bears as most draft experts had Conte going undrafted.

The Chicago Bears took 23-year old DT Stephen Paea out of Oregon State with the 53rd overall pick (2nd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Paea is a big guy at 6’1″, 306 pounds and he’s as strong as a bull.  Paea played in 11 games (all starts) for Oregon State last year and he had 42 tackles, 10 tackles for a loss, 6 sacks, batted down 2 balls and he forced 4 fumbles.  Paea played in 37 games (36 starts) for the Beavers in his three years with them and he had 126 tackles, 29.5 tackles for a loss, 14 sacks, batted down 3 balls and he forced 9 fumbles.  The Bears might have a steal in Paea if they can keep him focused and motivated, as he’s a playmaker whenever he wants to be.