The following is the first of a four-part Monday series that gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how the Bears prepare for the NFL draft. It's also a companion piece to the video feature "Inside the Draft pt. 1."

View Inside the Draft pt. 1 here.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – You’ve probably never heard of Chris Ballard, Marty Barrett, Rex Hogan, Ted Monago, Mark Sadowski or Jeff Shiver. And that’s exactly how they like it.

While toiling in anonymity, the Bears’ area scouts play a vital role in the draft process. The road warriors virtually live in their cars, traveling from campus to campus in search of NFL prospects.

Bears general manager Jerry Angelo chats with area scouts Jeff Shiver (left) and Mark Sadowski.

“They don’t have an easy job,” said Greg Gabriel, Bears director of college scouting. “They’re gone a lot. Including the time they’re here [at Halas Hall], they’re probably on the road 170 days a year.”

The area scouts evaluate future pros on tape during the spring and summer, and then head to the colleges in their respective regions once practices begin in August.

“They’re starting a conversation with the coaches at the schools, finding out about work habits and background,” Gabriel said. 

“Then they’re going to games during the year and they continue making visits to the school during the year. They’re probably getting to the major schools five or six times in any given season because we want to know as much as we can about the players.”

The area scouts speak to anyone who has daily contact with the prospects, from assistant strength coaches to secretaries in the football administration office.

“Their job is to find out as much information as they can,” Gabriel said. “We don’t want any surprises coming into the building. The more information they get, the better it helps us in making a decision.”

While only one voice among many, the area scouts play an essential role in determining draft grades.

“There’s a lot of manpower that goes into that,” said general manager Jerry Angelo. “We try to get a few opinions. We don’t rely on one opinion. [But] the area scout probably has more to do with that than any other of those opinions given the fact that he has spent the most time evaluating the player.”

The research done by the area scouts is especially important when the prospect has gotten into trouble.

“It’s not to say that we’re not going to draft a guy that may have done something wrong in his life,” Gabriel said. “We just want to know what it is, why it happened, and then try to determine if we feel it’s going to happen again.”

The Bears’ area scouts also help to create profile tapes of about 800 prospects. Each tape features 150-200 plays—both good and bad—over the future pro’s final two college seasons.

“We’re not making a highlight tape,” Gabriel said. “When we make a profile tape, it’s showing the strengths and weaknesses of the player. From watching that tape, somebody who’s never seen the player but knows how to evaluate talent is going to know the player from watching that versus watching seven or eight whole games.”

While evaluating a player on tape is important, coach Lovie Smith likes to visit prospects on their home turf. It’s something he did before the Bears selected Devin Hester in the second round of the 2006 draft.

“I got a chance to go down [to Miami] and work him out and watch video with him,” Smith said. “Normally guys will open up a lot more once you’re down there in their environment.”

Smith made a similar trip last year to the University of Arkansas, where he met with defensive tackle Marcus Harrison, who was ultimately drafted by the Bears in the third round.

“I also try to take them out to dinner where they’ll open up even a little bit more,” Smith said. “I learned a lot about Marcus. He had a relationship with [Bears defensive tackle] Tommie Harris before [Harrison] came here, and he pretty much begged me to bring him to Chicago so he could pair up with Tommie.

“I’ve also gone a few places where we’ve gotten a guy on the board where you try to find out as much as you possibly can about his football knowledge.”