Why the Bears should avoid drafting Ashton Jeanty in first round: Silvy

The Bears need a running back.

Ashton Jeanty should be a great player.

The Bears should not draft Ashton Jeanty.

Have I lost you? How could 1+1 not equal 2?

All the cool kids love to shout, “It’s all about BPA!” Best player available. And if Jeanty gets past the Raiders, he should be the BPA on the board. My new metric that I’m selling the Bears on is BTP – Best Team Possible. Simply drafting the best player doesn’t mean you’re building the best team. The pieces have to fit.

Super Bowl champion coach Jon Gruden, who now works with Barstool Sports, told me last week that if Jim Brown, Walter Payton and Emmitt Smith were drafted in the first round, the Bears could and should draft Jeanty at 10. I disagree. Admittedly, Gruden knows more football in his pinky than I know in my entire body, but this isn’t 1993.

Just two years ago, the Bears flirted with the idea of taking Bijan Robinson. The Falcons drafted Robinson and he has delivered with 2,500 yards and 18 rushing TDs while averaging 4.7 yards per carry in two seasons. He also added 118 catches for 918 yards with five TD receptions. Amazing numbers – yet after all of that, the Falcons have 15 wins and 19 losses with Robinson. This isn’t fantasy football, it’s the ultimate team game. BTP.

Hold on to your Bears hats, I’m about to do something that’s sacrilegious. We all love Gayle Sayers and Payton. Did you know that the Bears were 41-54 with Sayers?

I grew up wearing a 34 jersey running around Jane Stenson Elementary School in Skokie wanting to be Sweetness. Payton to the right, Payton to the left, Payton up the middle, Payton over the top was the Bears entire playbook in his early years. The Bears were 53-62 in Payton’s first eight seasons and didn’t win a playoff game. The Bears didn’t win the Super Bowl until five more hall of famers were added. Last year’s Bears had one pro bowler.

This isn’t to diminish Payton or Sayers, it’s to show that even having the best of the best in the backfield in the golden era of running backs wasn’t a ticket to winning. Today, the running back is like the center position in the NBA. Back in the day, you had to have a dominant center to win. Today, having a Nikola Jokic is the exception, not the rule.

The top running back salary is $20 million per year. In the meantime, the top edge rusher makes $40 million per year and the top offensive linemen salaries are approaching $30 million. Why draft a less valuable player so high, especially when guys like Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs and Aaron Jones were available in free agency just last year? Three of them were signed for less than $10 million per year.

I’m not trying to sell you that the Bears should pass on drafting a running back, just one in the first round. Add an edge, defensive tackle or offensive tackle at No. 10 and grab a back with picks 39, 41 or 72.

I texted my friend and ESPN NFL expert Field Yates asking him a simple question. Who are the backs other than Jeanty and Omarion Hampton that would make an immediate impact this year for the Bears that can be had with a second or third round pick? He responded with Treveyon Henderson, Quinshon Judkins, Kaleb Johnson, RJ Harvey, Jordan James, Dylan Sampson, Cam Skattebo, Trevor Etienne and Jaylon Blue. Nine running backs. How many left tackles in this year’s draft could play for the Bears next year drafted in the 2nd round or later? Yates replied, “2-3 max.”

Drafting a running back in the first round is the move you make as the cherry atop the sundae. Problem is, the Bears don’t have enough ice cream yet.

• Marc Silverman shares his opinions on the Bears weekly for Shaw Local. Tune in and listen to the “Waddle & Silvy” show weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. on ESPN 1000.