2021 NFL Draft: Recap and analysis of every pick for all 32 teams

1 (11): Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State

It’s hard to quantify how important this selection is for the Chicago Bears. The Bears had no shot at QBs in this draft at 20. The people in charge of the Bears had little shot of keeping their jobs with Andy Dalton as the Plan A.

Justin Fields could change everything for everyone in this organization. The only thing that gives pause — did the rest of the league overthink Fields (as in Mahomes, Watson 2017) or were they onto something? Why did so many teams needing a QB pass on him?

Either way, Fields brings excitement and star power to a Big Ten city that will embrace him with open arms.

2 (39): Teven Jenkins, OT, Oklahoma State

After getting Justin Fields, the Bears somehow found a way to move up and get Teven Jenkins as well. Even though their future assets took a huge blow, getting Fields and Jenkins out of this draft is about as good as any top two picks any team made, maybe better.

We had Jenkins going in the top 20 of just about every mock draft for the past couple of months. He’s a road grader in the running game. Medical could be why he slipped, but the Bears got a real talent here.

5 (151): Larry Borom, OL, Missouri

An experienced player at Missouri, Borom will give the Bears some depth and developmental starter potential at a variety of spots on the line.

This is not a sexy pick, by any means, but the Bears got some nice depth here.

6 (217): Khalil Herbert, RB, Virginia Tech

It was very surprising to see Herbert still sitting on the board in the sixth round. After the second round picks, it seemed like the value on this year’s running backs was just not there for teams but the Bears got a steal in Herbert. He was the ACC leader in all-purpose yards this past year as a running back and kick returner.

6 (221): Dazz Newsome, WR, North Carolina

Newsome had a bad pro day workout but he has good tape and should be able to carve out a role in the NFL in the slot and as a punt returner.

6 (228): Thomas Graham, Jr., CB, Oregon

It’s hard to imagine into the 200s Thomas Graham was still sitting on the board. This guy started all of his firs three seasons at Oregon and racked up 40 pass breakups, 8 interceptions, and 182 tackles including 10.5 for loss.

I really liked the Bears’ pickup of Kindle Vildor late last year, but this guy is better.

7 (250): Khyiris Tonga, DL, BYU

Tonga is a fun player to watch with his combination of strength and quickness. He gets his hands on the ball as well as any defensive lineman in this draft with 12 batted passes in his time at BYU as well as a blocked kick and two forced fumbles.