Chicago Bears got undrafted steal in Charles Snowden
The focus of the Chicago Bears‘ 2021 NFL Draft class has been primarily on Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, and for obvious reasons. Fields is going to be the Bears’ franchise quarterback (they hope) and his arrival was frankly unexpected given the team’s positioning in the draft and the demand for quarterbacks ahead of them.
The Bears traded up to get Fields, but even after trading up and giving up picks in both 2021 and 2022, they managed to get value throughout.
Chicago even managed to get value after the 2021 NFL Draft when they signed Virginia’s Charles Snowden
Snowden was considered a 3rd-4th round prospect by most and likely fell out of the draft due to injury concerns. He dealt with a broken ankle that caused him to miss two games as well as the entire pre-draft process.
Still, what Snowden is able to do on the field is clearly there on his college tape.
At nearly 6-foot-7, 243 pounds, Snowden has a rare frame for the edge position and he produced. He finished his career at Virginia with 190 total tackles, 30.5 tackles for loss, 15 sacks, 18 passes defended, and two interceptions (both in 2018).
He also had a pair of blocked kicks and with that length, that should almost be expected.
His 35-inch arms didn’t prevent him from throwing up 21 bench press reps, showing off his tremendous upper-body strength.
A former basketball player, Snowden is such a natural athlete on the field and despite his long frame, he’s not clunky nor does he struggle to change directions. He also does a good job of playing low.
Snowden definitely still needs to add some weight to his frame to hold up at the NFL level, but the Chicago Bears really present him with a great opportunity to find early success as a rookie.
He will get the chance to watch Khalil Mack work in practice every day and there could very well be snaps for the taking with Jeremiah Attaochu and Trevis Gipson as the primary backups to Mack and Robert Quinn.
Snowden will need to prove himself on special teams, but if he can do that right away, it won’t be long before he factors into the rotation off the edge. Getting healthy and getting out there on the field ASAP is going to be crucial for him.
When Snowden gets his hands on offensive linemen — which is frequent — he’s able to stack and shed with relative ease because linemen can’t often match his reach. They certainly have a hard time matching his reach plus strength combination.
Snowden’s ceiling is high. His length and overall athletic traits for his size and body composition are extremely rare in the NFL right now and the Chicago Bears have a new coordinator in Sean Deasi who will be able to put him in positions to succeed.