Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Clay Harbor breaks down his list of NFL Draft prospects who would fit Bears' roster

Episode Date: February 27, 2026

Leila Rahimi and Marshall Harris were joined by Chicago Sports Network analyst Clay Harbor to share his list of NFL Draft prospects who would be good fits for the Bears.

Clay Harbor, former NFL play. Clay Harbor, slot to the left. Here's Vicks pass, and it's caught touchdown by Harbor. That's a touchdown. Clay Harbor makes that catch. And they've got Harbor for the touchdown. Football analyst for Chicago Sports Network. If you saw how far you took the Rams in the NFC division round,

if you have a chance to add a couple more players there, this guy didn't play. And your quarterback doesn't miss games. If you have a quarterback that's missing games, and you say, hey, we probably need this guy, Caleb's still young, Cale takes care of his body and he never misses a game. You can get players that are playing that are going to help you win

and you never know if Tyson might not even see the field once. Play Harbor with Rahimi Harrison Grotie on 1043 The Score. It is our day to have custody of Clay Harbor. He was with the morning show and that David Hawer earlier in the week. It is an ongoing custody battle because I am here to tell you we deserve first dibs on Clay. Yeah, you're basically his dad. Before David even knew who Clay Harbor was, I had Clay Harbor on television.

True or false clay? That's true. You can't make the child pick between parents, Marshall. That's the number one rule. He's more like a David's more like an uncle. We are the parents. We are the ones. Is David the fun uncle?

Is that what it is? He's definitely the fun uncle. They do funny stuff. Yeah, you're the cousins. David's the fun uncle for sure, man. Are we the cousins you make up the dances with his kids, though? Because those are the best cousins. Oh, yeah.

We're the cousins that we get into trouble. And the parents, you know, and we all get together. That's fair. We're all like running outside. The oldest one thinks they're in charge. Yeah. Not that that was my life.

That's me. I'm in charge. It was my cousin Omead. He was the one like, oh, Omead says we should all go to like 2020 video and Glendale to rent a video. This is how long ago this was. Who let you guys outside? I like that though.

Somebody's got to be the leader. And, you know, usually it does. When something goes wrong, the responsibility falls on the oldest. It really does. Let's be honest. Well, in my family, it was the oldest. girl. I expected more out of you. Exactly. Like, these little kids,

okay, but you're the oldest. You know better. So that's kind of where we are. Prepare for a lifetime of disappointment to my parents. Ha ha. Showed them. Okay, so we can't be saying this in the custody hearing. The point is Clay is dallyed

with the morning show for the last few days and he was away from us. So now Clay is back with the big pro football show. He works with David Haw every day. Don't worry about that part. The multi your NFL vet is here. And I think we have to start first with just your observations from the Combine. Anybody stood out to you because you already had a shopping list of what you thought

the Bears should do at 25. There's more practice going on today, but still just initial thoughts. First off, let me preface this by saying, you can call me Mr. Combine, Marshall. Do I need to take you through real quick before I get started? Tell us. In the 2009 NFL Combine, Laila, 40-inch vertical first, 30 reps of 225 in the bench press first. 46040 right there, got it down to 455 at my pro day, 10-foot broad jump. Okay, I know what the combine's about.

I've been through all the interviews. I did all the on-field drills, caught all the balls, did all that. Same draft class as Rob Gruncowski, Aaron Hernandez. And yet they were both chosen higher than you. They were. They were. We had a record tight-ins taken that year. But the first guy I want to start out here, and I think Chicago might not like this,

because there's a lot of people out there that don't like Gervon Dexter, and they might say this guy reminds him of him, but he is not Jervon Dexter. Okay, his name is Caleb Banks. We already know, Chicago and Caleb seem to get along. Caleb Williams, our quarterback. This guy is 6'5.6, 230 pounds. He ran a 50540. That's better than Marshall could have done at 180 in his prime.

Okay. Okay, 32-inch vertical and 9-6 broad jump at 330 pounds. Freak athlete, here's the problem. He only played in three games last year, had a solid junior season. goes to the senior bowl. Dominates. This guy's quick. I turn on this film.

He takes up space. He can rush the passer. He moves around like a 250-pound man at 3.30. This guy's a problem. The reason he could fall to 25. And after this, I don't know if he will, but the reason he could fall is because of that injury history with his foot. And he didn't have a ton of production.

But I think this guy is exactly what the bears need. A huge space heater. You can put him at one tech. You can put him at three. You can put him at five. I haven't turned on the tape. and I saw a 335-pound man at 9 technique. That's versatility.

That sounds very relative athletic scory, the way he said no production. No production. He's like, he's got all the tools, the traits. Why do you think this is going to translate at the NFL level to actual production on the field? Watching the Senior Bowl and just seeing what he's doing and some of the best guards and tackles lining up everywhere

and just a man of his size. The only way, the only way I don't see this guy working out, he's not taking two business days to get off the ball like Jervon Dexter after it snapped. Okay, this guy actually has that suddenness, and he's going to get off the ball. And I'm not slandering Jervon Dexter. I think he's a solid pass rusher.

He's got to work on his run fits. But the only reason he won't work out is if he's not healthy, because he is taking on blocks in the run game. He can rush the passer. He is massive. He is just going to eat up space just by being that large human.

Also in the combine, I got to mention this, he didn't finish because he said his cleats were bothering his feet. He had a foot injury last year. So that's something to be aware of, but apparently it was no big deal, and he will be fine to come on to his pro day and everything after that. He didn't use the V word, which you know I like when they talk about players of his... Violence?

Yeah, you didn't use the V. Is he not violent? He's very violent. Okay, that's what I need to hear. He's very violent. Okay, you ready for a small school sleeper? Oh, yeah. Well, this is your specialty, being a small school sleeper. FCS kid, All-American first team.

His name is Caleb Proctor. No, not Caden Proctor, the offensive tackle. Caden Proctor defensive tackle. His senior season, he was first team, all-FCS, All-American, like I said. He had nine sacks, 13 TFLs, led his team to playoffs, and here's why I think he can play. I turn on the tape against LSU. You know, FCS schools have one game a year against a big-time opponent. Gotta get paid.

He had two sacks when the starters were playing. This guy played his best against LSU, SEC, big-time football. He looked better than a lot of those guys. And then I look at some of that stuff he did in the East West Shrine game. All-Swar games matter. My East West Shrine game, probably the reason I got drafted in the fourth round, have success against these bigger schools when you're an FCS guy.

He dominated the East West Shrine game. This guy is going to slip maybe the fourth, fifth round, because he's a little bit smaller. Combine was so good, he might fourth, but he's only 6-2-281. It's funny saying a guy small at 6-2-281. But for a defensive tackle, a guy that can move to five technique he is,

but he's quick, he's strong, he's physical, he's violent. He is all of that. He's explosive. I really liked what I saw from him in the combine. And from defensive tackles, he reached a speed of 20.95 miles per hour. That is the top four in the last five years of NFL Combine. That's in the top four.

Okay, I like that. I do think that you're on to something, though, with the relative athletic score, Marshall. Like, how much does that factor into what you're calculating clay? because I feel like you also know that Bears love some relative athletic score. There was a player last year out of Texas A&M, Shemar Stewart, that I thought the Bears were going to go after simply because he had an almost perfect relative athletic score. It was number one out of the draft class last year. Here's my take on the draft.

Offensively, I'm going to trust every draft pick the Bears make. Why? Because Ben Johnson is going to vet him and say if this guy is right for the team. He's not looking at relative athletic. scores. Why did they take Colson Loveland? This guy's intelligent. He's tough. He's physical. He's an all-around football player that can line up anywhere. A rookie tight end to come in and to pick up all these motions and shifts in the lineup where he did? Uncommon. Trust me, I tried it. It's not easy. Okay. And then you got Luther Burden, the guy that falls. He sees guys

and he pictures him in his offense, Ozzie Tripillo. Defensively, there's a disconnect. Because I feel like Dennis Allen is a guy that likes these traits. And we put him together with the trait master himself, Ryan Poles, now you're just going after traits. Trait master! The trait master! So defensively is what concerns me. You've seen the miss with Shemar Turner. You see him miss

with Di Oh, Dang. I'm not going to say he missed with Shemar Turner. He came in his defensive tackle, didn't play. They moved him to the end. Didn't look great. Look like he could at least stop throwing out there before he tore his ACL. So for me, when I look at defensively, I think there's a little bit of disconnect. I trust everything Ben Johnson's going to do offensively. Defensively gets a little bit risky. Okay, so that brings us back to how we let off this show.

And if you want to go back and listen to what was said by Ryan Poles on the Todd Mischay podcast and how we discussed it, go back. Rewind feature in the Odyssey app. But Clay, here's the ultimate question. It was at 10. How much do you trust Ryan Poles? That's really the question here. I trust that Ryan Poles hearing him. I was listening to these interviews over the weekend, and he's talking about how he goes about his draft board.

He's saying when they're looking at defensive players, he's going to bring the offensive staff in here and say, okay, which of these guys is going to keep you up at night if we're playing them tomorrow? Which of these guys are going to be the toughest of block? He said defensively, or offensively, we're going to bring the defensive staff in and say, okay, which of these guys are going to be the most difficult to defend? So I like what he's doing there. I think he does like the traits too much, but the thing he showed last year, which I absolutely love, is he is willing to draft best available. I remember the last big pro football show. I said the bear should go Colston, Loveland, in the first round of NFL draft. I never got more hate on anything.

thing in my life. Tyler Warren, Tyler Warren, Tyler Warren. He fit the system. Right. So I think he was the best player available. Fit the system. Same thing with Luther Burton. So I like that about polls. And that brings me to another player I want to mention to you guys. And that is my safety. Okay. I know safety ain't in a position of need. It is a position of need. It's a position of value. Okay. But you've seen the value increase with what you saw from the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. How they're able to move around Nicky Menwry. Another guy I was pounding the table last year. Go back and check, Marshall. I see you giving me that side-eye.

Emmanuel McNeil Warren is a guy I think could be available in the first round of 25. Measure it in, 6-4-201, 32-and-a-half-inch arms, 78 wing. He hasn't ran yet, but when I watch this guy's film, he reminds me a little bit of Nick E. Manwari.

He's a guy you can line up in the box, you can line them deep, he can play the run, he can play the pass. You have how many savings on the roster? How many? I don't believe there are any. Zero. There are none.

And he would be a guy that would be a game changer. If your tackles are gone, if your edge is gone, if your defensive tackle is gone, don't reach. How do you raise the floor of your team by drafting best player available and getting the best players on your roster? You look what the Detroit Lions did a few years ago when they were in the basement, not even the basement, the dungeon of the NFC North. Everybody's laughing at them. Oh, they drafted Jamir Gibbs. They don't need a running back. They drafted Sam Laporta.

They don't even need a tight end. Campbell linebacker that high. They don't need Brian Branch's safety. Guess what? Next year, they've won the division for two straight years at that point. Obviously they had a little slip because our main man, Ben Johnson left. But when you draft the best player available, I don't care where

they're at. You can find a veteran to slide over here and here and here. Don't reach if this guy on your board is definitely ahead of the position of need. I also want to ask you this, and you touched on this with David Hall earlier this week, and I thought you made a really good point about what's going on with

the league when it comes to the position of wide receiver and how often they can change teams. Brad Biggs was asked and wrote his 10 thoughts regarding the NFL Combine. And Biggs said, regarding DJ Moore, Moore is well regarded around the league for the reasons the bears like him. He's durable. He's a solid locker room presence tough on the field. He's owed $24.5 million this season. And on the third day of the league year, 15.5 million of his 2027 season salary becomes fully

guaranteed. That led some personnel men to conclude it would be challenging to trade him if the bears want to go in that direction. One source was relatively confident the bears could find a take her for more and might get a day two pick in return. What do you think about that possibility? A day

two pick? I'm doing it. You got to realize this. I understand he's one of your best receivers but when you have a position like past catcher on the Chicago Bears, if DJ comes back, I'm not so sure next year he's not their fourth pass catcher. Marshall, call me crazy. I think you've got

Colson Loveland who's showing, in my opinion, I think he might be the best tied in the league. I'm not getting carried away. I've seen a lot of tight ends in my day. Played with Gronk, played with Zach Earch, played with Brent Selich, played with Kobe Fleener. I don't know why threw Fleener in there. But I played with a lot of guys is what I'm trying to tell you. Martell's Bennett, former bear. Colson Loveland is a guy that is uncommon. He has traits that not all of those guys have. I'm not saying he's better than Gronk right now. You have Luther burden, who I couldn't have been more impressed with his route running. He's just a dog, his clutch factor. Great. Rome, I'm projecting a little bit because I think, I still believe that

Rome can improve. He is a guy that will continue to get better. So I like Rome. Then you got DJ. Make a $28 million. You have all these holes on your roster. Would you not trade one player, get a draft pick compensation in return, and then allocate to three starters on positions of need? You can get an endrusher, a defensive tackle, maybe a lower end offensive tackle with that $28 million. That's a lot of money. That's a lot of cheddar. That's $9 million per player we're talking about here. That is why I am pro trade DJ Moore if it makes sense from an allocation of resources.

And I think you summed it up pretty well there, Clay. And it's going to be interesting to see because they're on the clock. They're running out of time to make this decision because of what you just said about the contract becoming guaranteed for 2027. Well, and Brad Biggs legitimizes it. You know, when you hear Brad Biggs talk about it, you realize how it has actually permeated throughout the NFL. More with Clay Harbor coming up next. We will also get his thoughts on something that Bears' offensive line coach,

Dan Rochard said on a podcast recently. So we'll do that and more next.