During Senior Bowl week, the Chicago Bears were busy down in Mobile, Alabama like every other team. It was a premium opportunity to get a look at some of the top prospects in the 2024 draft. Chicago even had the added benefit of four of their assistant coaches running four different position groups in practices. That gave the organization some invaluable extra insight into specific prospects they may be interested in. Everybody remembers how much such an opportunity benefitted them last year. It led to additions like Darnell Wright and Tyrique Stevenson. This time around, it appears the week helped them in a completely different way.
One reason for excitement going into the week was the presence of some top quarterback prospects. Namely Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon’s Bo Nix. Both were considered fringe 1st rounders going into the event. Each had tremendous seasons in 2023, leading their teams to excellent records. This was their chance to show that their success was because of them and not the teams around them.
Unfortunately, it sounds like they failed to meet that challenge. Multiple reports out of Mobile indicate both quarterbacks underwhelmed all week.
The Chicago Bears should be thrilled about this.
If NFL teams agree with this assessment, it likely will cool the stock of both players going into the spring. Suddenly, teams that may have been willing to chance taking them with a 1st round pick will feel reluctant. It widens the gulf between them and the three guys at the top in Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, and Jayden Daniels. That means teams needing a quarterback who cannot jump into the top three or four spots may have to seek an alternative. This is where the Bears come in.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
It is an open secret they are likely to trade Justin Fields in the coming weeks, with GM Ryan Poles expected to take his preferred quarterback at #1 overall. Projections had the Bears commanding somewhere in the vicinity of a 2nd round pick for him. There is a good chance that the price tag just increased thanks to the poor performances by Penix and Nix at the Senior Bowl. Mel Kiper Jr. got criticized for suggesting a 1st round pick for Fields wasn’t out of the question. Now it appears his words ring truer than ever.
