Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports Could the Bears’ third-round pick be the latest young tackle to turn into a major player? You may not have heard of Kiran Amegadjie before the Chicago Bears selected him in the 2024 NFL Draft. But plenty of people — himself included — found him among the most intriguing prospects in this year’s class. Count Amegadjie’s college coach Tony Reno in that group. In a conversation with the Chicago Tribune’s Colleen Kane, Reno, the head coach of Amegadjie’s alma mater Yale, gave a sneak peek at the 75th overall pick in this year’s draft. Specifically, the part that should pique Bears fans’ interest involves his ability to get better in a rapid amount of time. “The big period of growth he had was when he got back here the summer before sophomore year until the summer before his junior year,” Reno said of his former star tackle. “That full year is when his physical growth and also just his growth as a man and as a football player really came. He played for us as a sophomore. We played him at guard because that was our ability to get the best five on the field and he had that versatility. He got his feet under him. He was dominant at times, and at times, he wasn’t as dominant as he should or could have been because he was so inexperienced. “His junior year, he was a completely different guy. ... He became the player he grew into today. And then he had a great summer last year and a great start and unfortunately had that injury early. But he was in great shape and was continuing to progress.” The important thing to remember about Amegadjie, a Hinsdale, Illinois native, is that he’s still relatively new to football. He didn’t start playing until midway through high school, and he didn’t even get three full years of play in college. But the 6-5, 323-pound tackle still managed to be a three-year starter at Yale despite that inexperience and appears poised to ascend even more. Cornell-Kiran Amegadjie: slaughter pic.twitter.com/3rsw03MTUc— James Foster (@NoFlagsFilm) April 16, 2024 Reno certainly believes he will. “I’ve said this to scouts, coaches, front office people: Now we’ve got six (players) in the NFL and we put another five in, and he has the most growth potential out of any of the guys. ... I think he has a huge upside.” Now, the Bears still have to put Amegadjie in a position to achieve that upside. But their past work with 2022 fifth-round pick Braxton Jones — another fairly raw but talented prospect — makes you believe it’s possible to do with Amegadjie as well. Scouts like NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein believe the 22-year-old’s biggest areas of improvement — hand usage and footwork, in particular — are coachable. But the things you can’t coach — length (36-inch arms), power and movement skills — are all there to be tapped into. Additionally, Amegadjie’s ability to play multiple spots in college makes him solid insurance for most offensive line positions in case of injury. You can never have enough good tackles on your roster in the NFL. And if Amegadjie progresses the way the Bears hope, he might end up making Jones, who’s a solid player, expendable on the left side. That’d be a good problem to have. https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2024/ ... bears-yale
