The Chicago Bears have had one of the worst offseasons of the 2021 calendar year. At least according to several experts. Is that fair? Not entirely. It’s mostly due to the fact they haven’t done much of anything. Their only notable moves to this point were signing Andy Dalton at quarterback and then cutting Kyle Fuller. Outside of that, it’s been mostly retaining their own free agents or adding some cheap veterans.
They’ve yet to make a splash of any kind. This is why many feel it’s coming in the draft. Could this be for a quarterback? A lot of people think so. It’s an easy prediction to make. Dalton is on a one-year deal. Nick Foles isn’t their future. Adding a young arm they can bridge to would make sense. It isn’t a question of if they take one but when. Is it the 1st round or might they wait until Day 2?
Nobody knows for sure.
One person who seems rather confident about it is Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. He’s been on top of Bears news all offseason. Well ahead of anybody else. So that is why his comments on the quarterback situation were interesting. Not only does he expect them to draft one, he believes they’re aiming to do it early. That includes moving up in the 1st round.
“I think the story hasn’t been told yet as to how this depth chart will shake out. I don’t believe they’re going to roll with Dalton and no one else that has much chance. I think they’re looking quarterback in Round 1 — if a guy falls and they can make a modest trade up for someone they like, absolutely that is something they are going to look at.”
This falls in line with what SM has heard for the past few weeks. The Bears were sending out feelers to teams in the bottom of the top 10 to gauge the price tag for moving up. Clearly, they’re preparing in case one of the quarterbacks among the top five happens to drop. If it is somebody they covet, Biggs makes it pretty clear that they aren’t afraid to go up and get him.
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Chicago Bears will have one of three possibilities
Everybody knows who the top two picks are going to be at this point. Jacksonville will take Trevor Lawrence at #1 and the New York Jets will take Zach Wilson at #2. So the draft essentially starts at #3. That is where the San Francisco 49ers traded up to. It’s obvious they’re going to take a quarterback. What people can’t figure out is which one. The hot name among insiders is Mac Jones of Alabama, but there are a number of holdouts who believe it’s more likely to be Justin Fields of Ohio State.
Either way, the Chicago Bears’ options figure to be one of Jones, Fields, or Trey Lance of North Dakota State. One of them stands a fairly decent chance of reaching the bottom of the top 10. What isn’t clear is whether it’ll be the quarterback they covet enough to move up. Pace was present at both the Alabama and North Dakota State pro days. Interestingly, neither he nor Nagy showed up at Ohio State.
Is that sign of who they’re secretly hoping for?
In terms of pure physical ability, Fields has a case for being the best in this draft class. He has size, plenty of arm strength, and can run with 4.41 speed. His passing accuracy is also quite good. The big hangup for a lot of people is how his processor tends to be slower than preferred for prospects. If this somehow results in him dropping, it would be a shock if Nagy saw him as another Mahomes he could stash behind Dalton as the Chiefs did in Kansas City with Alex Smith.
Either way, this is exciting news.