The Bears on Saturday selected Arizona State linebacker Keyshaun Elliott with pick No. 166, which they acquired in a trade earlier in the day with the Panthers.

The Bears were drawn to Elliott because of his versatility, leadership qualities and work ethic.

"A high-end intangible player," west coast area scout Reese Hicks said. "Smart, instinctive. He wore the green dot for them at Arizona State. Worked hard. Everything you want in a player, especially in Day 3 of the draft. So, we're really happy to have him. He's really passionate about the game. Just elite intangibles and makeup."

As a senior last season, Elliott started in all 12 regular-season games and led the Sun Devils with 98 tackles, 14.0 tackles for loss and seven sacks, earning him second-team All-Big 12 honors.

Having modeled parts of his game after 49ers All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner—who possesses elite ball hawking skills and disruptiveness—Elliott took film study extremely seriously this past year, with the goal of becoming a similar type of defensive playmaker.

"It's something that I wanted to do walking into this past season, was I needed to play behind the line of scrimmage just a little bit more," Elliott said. "I was blessed to have a great D-line that was able to hold some blocks for me to go down there and run through some lanes. So just overall, the amount of work I put in just led to those 14 tackles for loss [and seven sacks]."

While Elliott didn't play much on special teams in college, the Bears anticipate his defensive skill set translating well to an NFL special teams unit, with Hicks adding that "he was one of our special teams coaches' top guys on their stack."

Having competed in all three phases while at Richmond High School, playing linebacker, quarterback and punter, Elliott has studied football from all angles and is confident in his ability to come to Chicago and be a key contributor on special teams. He told reporters that while he was on the special teams depth chart at Arizona State, meaning he was always involved in the drills at practice, and is prepared to compete for a role with the Bears.

"That's the first thing that I'm going to be doing when I get into the building, meeting with the special teams coordinator and understanding the schematics of it," Elliott said. "I look at myself, and I look at a guy that was able to lead multiple defenses for a multiple amount of years. So going into the league, I know that's going to be a priority for myself, is walking in and being able to handle special teams, not just for myself, but also the other guys around me. So it's something I'm super excited about. I think my play as a linebacker is something that translates pretty well to special teams."

During the scouting and pre-draft process, the Bears received rave reviews from everybody they spoke to about Elliott. Those positive reviews paid off Saturday afternoon when Elliott received the call from the Bears while in the basement of his grandparents' Richmond home, surrounded by a close circle of family and friends. Having loved football since he was nine years old, the native midwesterner feels grateful to have an opportunity play at the next level, especially in Chicago.

"[Football] was just something I fell in love with," Elliott said. "It takes you away from everything else that's going on in the world. It kind of gives you something to do that's bigger than yourself. You build tons of relationships. You're part of a bunch of different groups of guys that you're going to know for the rest of your life.

"So everything that comes with football and opportunities it's provided me with, it's just unbelievable. It's just something that, you know, it's easy to wake up to. I love the game of football and putting all of the work in, extra work. Everything it takes is just something I truly love."