Chicago Bears 2021 NFL Draft grades after wild weekend
The 2021 NFL Draft has come and gone and the Chicago Bears made some huge moves for the future of their football team. The team had an extremely aggressive strategy, making several draft day trades, including moving up for both their first and second-round selections. In fact, the Bears made just two of their seven picks at their originally slated spots when things were all said and done.
They began by making perhaps the biggest move of the entire first-round by moving up nine spots to nab their quarterback of the future in Justin Fields with the 11th overall pick. In the very next round, they traded up again to get him some protection by taking an offensive tackle, Teven Jenkins, out of Oklahoma State. The Bears would then wait all the way until the fifth round for their next selection as a result of the trades and continued to load up on talent.
The value they landed with nearly every pick has to have fans feeling pretty excited about the Chicago Bears 2021 rookie class. The only thing left to do is give each pick a letter grade based on value relative to where they were drafted, need, and fit.
player. 57. Pick Analysis. QB. Justin Fields. 1. Scouting Report. Ohio State
Grade: A+
Heading into the 2021 NFL Draft, we knew that if Justin Fields didn’t go 2nd or 3rd overall that he would slide down the board a little bit, but I don’t think anybody thought he would still be available after the top 10, and that includes the Chicago Bears. With the New York Giants making it known that they were interested in trading down, the Bears knew they had an opportunity to go get their quarterback of the future and made sure to make it happen.
Chicago gave the Giants their slots at 20, 164, and their 2022 first-round pick for the chance to get Fields at 11, and considering how unlikely getting him seemed when the draft started, I think it was a bargain. Fields has more pure talent than any quarterback the Chicago Bears have had in years and with Andy Dalton and Nick Foles already in the QB room, the team doesn’t have to feel forced to throw him to the wolves in Week 1 if they don’t feel he’s ready.
They can take their time with his development and have even expressed interest in taking the same approach the Kansas City Chiefs did when they had Alex Smith and Patrick Mahomes.
Whether Justin Fields gets his first start in Week 1 or Week 17, the Chicago Bears faithful should be thrilled for the future of their storied franchise. They couldn’t have asked for a better scenario.