Chicago Bears: Defensive line impresses; notebook on Senior Bowl Day 3

By Thursday, Chicago Bears scouts got to see how some of the top prospects in the 2025 draft looked in three practices at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. The players will have one more opportunity to impress NFL GMs and coaches during the game on Saturday at Hancock Whitney Stadium.

The Chicago Bears are looking at the trenches

This week, the focus for the Bears has been primarily on players on the offensive and defensive lines. The offensive line looked great on Wednesday for both the National and American teams. On Thursday, the defensive line rebounded with some incredible play. The National team’s defensive line made the offensive line look like they were standing in mud for most of their one-on-one period.

There were several standouts from DTs and DEs at practice No. 3 from both teams.

I spoke with Ole Miss DE Princely Umanielen about his week in Mobile. I also spoke with OL Jackson Slater who mentioned the Bears scouted him multiple times in 2024 at FCS school Sacramento State.

Emptying the notebook on Senior Bowl practice No. 3

• The coaching during the Senior Bowl has been a subject of conversation, especially with Cleveland Browns special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone coaching the American team. (Many Browns fans wanted him gone after the season.) Many in Mobile didn’t think the quality of their practices were as high as the National team under New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka (who talked about his interview with the Bears this week). The American team seemed to spend more time on special teams and team periods were the defense couldn’t really challenge than they did on individual or one-on-one segments.
• The defensive line crushed the offensive line in one-on-one drills during the National practice. Zabel and Monheim had rough mornings. Conerly had one bad rep in the one-on-one segment, but he had a great rest of the day.
• Conerly, a six-foot-four, 315-pound athlete from Seattle has the build to be a starting left tackle in the league. He also has the power. But he’ll have to be more consistent at being able to shift in place when an edge rusher tries to go outside him.
• I’d be happy if the Bears took any of the three Ole Miss defensive linemen that came to Mobile this week. I talked to Princely Umanmielen. I mentioned Nolen. Defensive end Jared Ivey has also been solid this week. The six-foot-six, 285-pound athlete recorded seven sacks and two forced fumbles in 2024. He showed flashes of eventually being a good pass rusher in the league.
• Arroyo had a funny moment when he punted the ball into the endzone after catching a touchdown pass. He was flagged for the action.

Miami TE Elijah Arroyo punted the football into the stands after catching a TD. The #Hurricanes standout was flagged for an unsportsmanlike penalty lol. #SeniorBowl pic.twitter.com/h6Y0vfw85K

— Jordan Sigler (@JordanSig) January 30, 2025

• LSU OL Emery Jones Jr. came into the Senior Bowl with a lot of hype as a potential Day 2 pick. Frankly, he’s had a rough week of practice. The same goes for Miami OL Jalen Rivers. Those two have more to prove during the game on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. EST.

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