The Chicago Bears have lost three straight after an encouraging 2-1 start. It is worse that all three losses have come within a touchdown or less. Thursday night against Washington was the worst of them all, as they had the game-winning TD in hand before Darnell Mooney bobbled it. Now the schedule is about to turn against them, with New England, Dallas, and Miami up next. It isn’t hard to imagine those three games becoming losses as well.
They can’t pass the ball with any effectiveness. Their run defense is still really bad. It is abundantly clear this is a flawed football team. That is why there is a strong likelihood they will end up with a high slot in the upcoming 2023 NFL draft. Getting there won’t be any fun, but there are reasons to think the Bears might be timing this perfectly. Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog made the point in a recent column.
“Supposedly, this is a quarterback-heavy NFL Draft. But it also might be a collection of the most quarterback-needy teams we have seen.
This was the draft order, via Tankathon, as of Saturday morning. (Results Sunday have already changed this order but the order as of Week 6 is not particularly important.) Let’s just look at the first 18 selections.
(1) Carolina – needs QB
(2) Las Vegas – could draft QB
(3) Pittsburgh – has QB
(4) Detroit – could draft QB
(5) Houston – needs QB
(6) Chicago – unlikely to draft QB
(7) Washington – needs QB
(8) Atlanta – needs QB
(9) Houston second pick
(10) Philadelphia – has QB
(11 & 12) Seattle – could draft QB
(13) New England – has QB
(14) Arizona – has QB
(15) Detroit second pick
(16) Cincinnati – has QB
(17) Jacksonville – has QB
(18) Indianapolis – eventually Chris Ballard has to draft a QB, right?“
Chicago Bears could find themselves in the ideal trade-down scenario.
GM Ryan Poles said his primary goal is to build the Bears through the draft. That requires picks—lots of them. Outside of trading high-profile players, nothing secures lots of picks more than giving up a high draft slot. That is especially true when quarterbacks are involved. Here is what every 1st round trade involving a top 10 QB netted since 2016.
- Jared Goff – Two 1st, two 2nd, and two 3rd round picks (from 1st overall to 15th)
- Carson Wentz – Two 1st, One 2nd, and one 3rd round pick (from 2nd overall to 8th)
- Mitch Trubisky – Two 3rd and one 4th round picks (2nd overall to 3rd)
- Patrick Mahomes – Two 1st and one 3rd round picks (10th overall to 22nd)
- Sam Darnold – One 1st and three 2nd round picks (3rd to 6th)
- Josh Allen – One 1st and two 2nd round picks (7th overall to 12th)
- Trey Lance – Three 1st and one 3rd round picks (3rd overall to 12th)
That paints a clear enough picture. If the Chicago Bears end up with a top 5 pick and don’t plan on replacing Justin Fields, then they are almost certain to have teams interested in moving up for a quarterback. It comes down to how far Poles is willing to drop. Some GMs are comfortable falling out of the top 10 entirely. Others prefer to stay somewhere in the bottom half. Either way, the Bears are certain to get a hefty ransom of high picks in return.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
The best part is the upcoming 2023 quarterback class looks strong. Bryce Young (Alabama) and C.J. Stroud (Ohio State) are already top 10 locks barring injury. Will Levis has boatloads of talent, while Hendon Hooker (Tennessee) and Anthony Richardson (Florida) are fast rising into the 1st round conversation as well. Everything points to an early run at the position.
