The Chicago Bears glaring need at quarterback has not prevented NFL draft analysts from linking the club to a defensive player at No. 3 overall.

ESPN’s Todd McShay has the Bears taking Alabama defensive end Jonathan Allen in his 2017 NFL Mock Draft 2.0 that dropped on Wednesday. ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. also predicted the Bears would select Allen third overall in his latest mock draft.

Unless the Bears are totally in love with Clemson’s Deshaun Watson (McShay has Watson going second to San Francisco) or North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky (12th to Cleveland in McShay’s recent mock draft), the idea of selecting one of nation’s top defensive players in a no-brainer.

Allen, a versatile lineman who can line up inside or outside, had 69 tackles, 10.5 sacks and 16 tackles for loss his senior year at Alabama. As a junior, Allen recorded 12 sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss for the 2015 national champion Crimson Tide.

Allen’s decision to skip last month’s Senior Bowl will have no bearing on his draft status. He put four years on tape at Alabama. What you see is what you get, and Allen was the consensus defensive player of the year in college football in 2016.

A trio up front of Allen, Akiem Hicks and Eddie Goldman would look pretty good on paper for the Bears. And if 2016 third-round pick Jonathan Bullard makes a jump in his second season, the Bears have the makings of a fairly formidable defensive line for coordinator Vic Fangio to work with.

Sure, Chicago’s offense needs help. But so does the defense. The Bears surrendered a ton of points over the final few weeks of the regular season. Quarterback is a priority, but a team can never have too many pass-rushers. The Bears have had only one player record double-digit sacks since the end of the Lovie Smith era – Willie Young (10 sacks in 2014). That needs to change in a hurry if the Bears want to take the next step in their rebuilding process.