The Chicago Bears address their obvious need at quarterback in this three-round 2021 NFL mock draft.
The Chicago Bears currently sit at 5-2 on the year, trailing only the 5-1 Green Bay Packers in the NFC North. If you just look at the standings, this team appears to be headed in the right direction and on their way to a post-season birth. However, things are not always as they appear.
Chicago is coming off of an ugly 24-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football. Quarterback Nick Foles could not get anything going in that game and their offense struggled once again. An uninspiring Foles paired with an average group of pass-catchers and a struggling offensive line has not been a recipe for success for the Bears’ offensive attack.
The Bears do have a strong defense, but it is not as dominant as some of the Bears’ defensive units of the past. Chicago currently ranks sixth in defensive DVOA, which is obviously good, but they are unlikely a strong enough unit to carry a weak offense to legitimate success.
Unless Foles and company can turn their offensive production around, the Chicago Bears are unlikely to be serious competitors this season. It does not help that they are starting to hit the hardest part of their schedule.
This team may have been able to stack up enough early wins to still put themselves in the playoffs when it is all said and done. However, unless the offense starts to look much better, do not expect this team to make any sort of deep run. The defense is good, but the offense is bd, and that is not a recipe for success in the modern NFL.
With this being the case, I wanted to look forward a bit and see what the Chicago Bears can do to improve their situation over the offseason. With little cap room to work with, big additions in free agency are unlikely. This means that a majority of their improvement for next season will likely come through the 2021 NFL Draft. Let’s see if we can make them better in this three-round 2021 NFL mock draft.
Note: This mock draft was completed using The Draft Network’s Mock Draft Machine.
Round 1, 25th Overall
First Mitchell Trubisky and now Nick Foles. We can sugarcoat it all we want, but the Chicago Bears have an ugly quarterback situation and are unlikely to seriously compete until they figure it out. Selecting 25th overall in this mock draft leaves the far away from the top guys in the class like Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields and Trey Lance, but could put them in a situation to take the fourth quarterback off of the board.
The race for QB4 is on with BYU’s Zach Wilson, Alabama’s Mac Jones and Florida’s Kyle Trask currently leading the way. Based on their performances this season, it is difficult to bet against any of these guys going forward. However, Wilson has become the most exciting player of the bunch and would make sense for the Chicago Bears here at No. 25.
Wilson is a quick and athletic quarterback prospect who has shown impressive natural playmaking ability this season. He senses pressure extremely well and has a knack for creating time for himself in the pocket. Wilson shows inconsistent accuracy with his passes but has shown impressive accuracy to all levels of the field at times. His ability to make throws with touch is particularly impressive and will help him tremendously at the next level.
Wilson does not have the biggest arm in the class, but he has the arm strength to hit nearly any throw on the field. He also displays a quick release and can get creative with his arm angles is needed.
Zach Wilson has led BYU to an impressive 6-0 start to the season and is putting up massive numbers along the way. Wilson has completed 78.3% of his passes for 1,928 yards, 16 touchdowns and only one interception. He has also added six rushing touchdowns for good measure.
Simply put, Wilson has been fantastic this season and is undoubtedly raising his 2021 NFL Draft stock in a big way. His dual-threat ability and capability to improvise when the play breaks down make him an ideal fit for the modern NFL. Whether the Bears would take him and make him an immediate starter or no, Wilson feels like a strong fit for them in this range.
Round 2, 57th Overall
Let’s get our new quarterback a weapon. The Chicago Bears will have a tough decision to make this offseason with Allen Robinson set to hit free agency. Chicago would undoubtedly love to have Robinson back, but he is going to get big money on the open market and he may not want to come back and continue to play for a team with a shaky quarterback situation.
Regardless of whether the Bears bring Robinson back or not, wide receiver is a possible position of need for this team. Anthony Miller is a good player, but he has been inconsistent through the first two and a half years of his career. Darnell Mooney is undoubtedly talented, but he was a fifth-round pick less than a year ago.
The presence of Miller or Mooney on this roster should not prevent the Bears from taking a wide receiver in the 2021 NFL Draft if the right opportunity presents itself. In the second round of this mock draft, Chicago finds that opportunity and adds Chris Olave out of Ohio State to their wide receiver room.
Olave is a smooth and efficient route runner who moves in and out of his cuts with ease. He does a great job of creating space against man coverage and has the speed needed to beat the defense deep once he finds the space. Olave is a well-rounded receive who can win at all three levels of the defense and also shows some nice ability in contested-catch situations.
This feels like a great value selection at a potentially massive position of need for the Chicago Bears. Olave is a good football player who could come in and make an immediate impact on this team, no matter who is throwing the ball.
Round 3, 88th Overall
The offensive line continues to be a major area of need for the Bears. Their offensive tackle duo of Charles Leno Jr. and Bobby Massie leaves plenty to be desired and it is not like they are loaded on the interior. This offensive line could use an infusion of both high-level talent and depth, and I would not be surprised to see the Bears address this unit with multiple picks in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Spencer Brown out of Northern Iowa stands out as a strong fit for the team here in the third round. Listed at 6-foot-9, 321 pounds, Brown is a massive man who shows great athleticism for his size. He is a tough and aggressive player who gets off of the ball quickly and man-handled most of his college competition with impressive power at the point of attack.
Brown also has the quickness to reach the second-level in the run game and is a smooth athlete in pass protection. He has long arms that he uses well as a pass protector and wins with a strong punch a majority of the time. Brown also mirrors at a high level and shows solid awareness against stunts and blitzes.
The level of competition is a bit of a concern here, but Brown has an exciting combination of size, power and athleticism that is worth taking a shot on in this range. He may not be a guy who would come in and immediate start for the Bears, but Brown undoubtedly has the ability to quickly grow into an important part of their future.
The Chicago Bears’ offense undoubtedly needs some help. Taking a franchise quarterback and following that pick up with an exciting offensive weapon and a big, athletic tackle feels like a path to success for this team in the 2021 NFL Draft.