LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears were expected to address the receiver position in this past weekend’s NFL Draft, and they didn’t disappoint, selecting three wideouts for the first time since 1999.

Chicago chose Oklahoma’s Juaquin Iglesias in the third round (99th), Abilene Christian’s Johnny Knox in the fifth round (140th) and Pittsburgh’s Derek Kinder in the seventh round (251st).

Bears third-round draft pick Juaquin Iglesias led Oklahoma in receiving each of the past two seasons.

The Bears had considered selecting Iglesias with their 49th pick in the second round before trading down to acquire an extra fourth-round selection (105th) they spent on Texas defensive end Henry Melton.

The Bears were thrilled that Iglesias was still on the board 50 spots later. The 6-1, 210-pounder is an excellent route runner who possesses size, quickness, good hands and run-after-the-catch ability. He is expected to compete for a starting position as a rookie in Chicago.

“He’s more prototypical of what an outside receiver looks like,” said general manager Jerry Angelo. “He doesn’t play at 4.5 speed, but he ran a 4.5 at the Combine. He’s got exceptional hands, he’s real tough, he does the dirty work, he can return, and he’s very bright. We feel like he’s going to come in and pick up the offense.”

Playing on one of the nation’s most explosive offenses at Oklahoma, Iglesias was overshadowed a bit by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Sam Bradford and fellow receiver Malcolm Kelly, a 2008 second-round pick of the Washington Redskins.

But Iglesias still led the Sooners in receiving each of the past two seasons with 68 receptions for 907 yards and 5 touchdowns as a junior in 2007 and 74 catches for 1,150 yards and 10 TDs as a senior in 2008.

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“There are a lot of other stars, but when you play in an offense like that that put up numbers like that, you have to deal with other stars,” said coach Lovie Smith. “We think he stood out amongst the other stars. He was a consistent player throughout. He was a go-to receiver in an offense like that.

“He has good size, too. We talk a lot about catching the football and what he can do with his hands on the ball. Our guys had him rated fairly high, higher than probably where he ended up going. We’re anxious to get him into the mix and see how far he can go.”

Knox is an intriguing prospect primarily due to his blazing speed and big-play ability. He was timed at 4.34 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, and caught an Abilene Christian-record 118 passes for 2,227 yards and a Lone Star Conference-record 30 touchdowns in just 25 career games.

Johnny Knox catches a pass at the NFL Scouting Combine in February.

Knox’s draft stock rose during the offseason after he delivered impressive performances at the Combine and at Texas vs. the Nation all-star game.

“I would say that Johnny Knox was a little bit of a surprise,” Angelo said. “I thought he would be gone in the fourth round given the speed and the workout. He had a real good all-star game. Obviously, the speed factor played heavily when we saw him on the board there in the fifth.”

While Knox didn’t regularly face top competition at Abilene Christian, a Division II school that also produced Bears 2006 second-round pick Danieal Manning, coach Lovie Smith isn’t concerned.

“We got a chance to see Johnny at the Combine with everybody else; all the big-school guys,” Smith said. “I didn’t know a lot about him until I went to the Combine. At the Combine, he looked like he was one of the guys from one of the bigger schools. I don’t think it’ll be too much of a problem for him. I know he’s excited about the opportunity. Skill-wise, he’ll be fine.”

Kinder, meanwhile, is still trying to regain his form after missing the entire 2007 season with a torn ACL. In 2006, he was named first team All-Big East and was a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award after catching 57 passes for 847 yards. He returned in 2008 to catch 36 passes for 422 yards and 3 TDs.

The Bears brought Kinder to Halas Hall for a pre-draft visit and had offensive coordinator Ron Turner call former Bears coach Dave Wannstedt, Kinder's head coach at Pittsburgh.

“Our coaches really liked him,” Angelo said. “Ron talked to Dave Wannstedt quite a bit. Dave really said tremendous things about him. He knows our system; that played a part into it. [He’s] a big, physical receiver we feel has a chance to come in and compete with the second tier of our wide receivers.”