Bears select running back Unga in supplemental draft

The competition for playing time at running back behind Matt Forte and Chester Taylor will be even more fierce when the Bears begin training camp in two weeks after they selected BYU's Harvey Unga in the seventh round of Thursday's supplemental draft.

Unga was dismissed from the BYU squad for violating the school's honor code.

In his three full seasons, the 6-foot-1, 244-pounder carried 692 times for 3,446 yards and 35 touchdowns. He gained more than 1,000 rushing yards in each of the past three seasons and had 11 or more rushing touchdowns all three years. Unga also caught 102 passes for 1,085 yards and could see time as a third-down back, although Forte and Taylor are both adept in that role.

Because he ran a 4.65-second 40-yard dash at his workout, Unga may lack the speed to play running back. But he could factor at fullback, where the Bears currently have only Will Ta'ufo'ou and Eddie Williams on the roster, and neither was considered to have a good shot at making the team even before Unga was drafted.

At running back, Unga would compete with Garrett Wolfe, Kahlil Bell and undrafted rookie free agent Brandon Minor for playing time behind Forte and Taylor, who are entrenched as 1-2 on the depth chart. The selection of Unga means the Bears have forfeited their seventh-round pick in next year's draft.

Also in the supplemental draft, the Cowboys selected Illinois defensive tackle Josh Price-Brent in the seventh round.