Keyshaun Elliott has handled transitions well throughout his football career.

Elliott expected to play quarterback in college growing up. But after he earned all-state honors as a linebacker and punter in high school at Missouri, Elliott adjusted and played linebacker once he arrived at New Mexico State at the beginning of his collegiate career.

His versatility should help him once again as he transitions to his dream of playing in the NFL after the Chicago Bears selected in the fifth round of the NFL draft on Saturday at No. 166.

“Everything that comes with football and opportunities it’s provided me with it’s just unbelievable,” Elliott said virtually Saturday. “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.”

Elliott will bring plenty of experience after playing in 52 games over four seasons. He played two years with New Mexico State before spending the last two years at Arizona State.

Elliott proved he has an ability to get to the ball while also conveying the plays on the field for the Sun Devils. He had a career-high seven sacks last season to go along with 98 tackles, 14 of which were for a loss. Over four years, he had one interception, two fumble recoveries, 10 passes defended and 301 total tackles.

He credited that strong production on the field to his preparation, something he modeled his game after San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner.

“Just watch a lot of film, understand what’s going on before the ball is snapped, like I was saying about Fred,” Elliott said. “But 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. 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.”

Chicago was expected to add a linebacker to add depth to the position. Starter T.J. Edwards is expected to return after suffering an injury in last season’s playoff run. The Bears will also have D’Marco Jackson returning along with Noah Sewell and Ruben Hyppolite, last year’s fourth-round pick.

At 6-foot-1 3/4 and 231 pounds, Elliott has good size and knack for getting to the ball, something the Bears were happy to add in the third day of the draft.

“He can run,” Bears area scout Reese Hicks said. “He’s instinctive. He’s got good size as well. So, he kind of plays a couple different positions, can play Sam for us, can play Mike for us. And then his play style translates well for us to special teams. We really like all those things with him, just the versatility he can provide for us.”

Special teams is where Elliott will most likely make his mark, at least at the start of his career. Although he didn’t play too much special teams at Arizona State, Elliott did spend some time working there during practices.

Elliott knows contributing on special teams will be his latest adjustment and how he’ll produce in the NFL at the start of his career.

“I look at myself, and I look at a guy that was able to lead multiple defenses for a multiple amount of years,” Elliott said. “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.”