The second round of the 2011 NFL Draft is moving along at a nice clip. Fans of the Chicago Bears got a little surprise when their team moved up from No. 62 to No. 53 in order to select Stephen Paea, the insanely strong defensive tackle out of Stanford. In order to move up into the early 50s, Jerry Angelo had to surrender the Bears’ fourth round pick (127th overall) on Saturday afternoon.
As for Paea, the DT made a name for himself with his record-setting bench press performance at this year’s scouting combine. Paea threw up 225 pounds a mind-boggling 49 times. The Cardinal grad isn’t just a one-trick pony. For a guy that big and bulky, he’s fairly fleet of foot. But make no mistake about it, he’ll be expected to clog holes in the middle of the Bears’ defense.
We’ll have more commentary and reaction to the selection a bit later this evening, but for more immediate analysis and conversation, head on over to Windy City Gridiron to read what Bears’ fans think of the team’s newest addition.