Chicago Bears land a franchise quarterback via trade in 2021 mock draft

It is officially NFL Draft week. With the 2021 NFL Draft starting on April 29th, we are only days away from finally seeing who the Chicago Bears will be adding to their roster through the draft. This will be the first time in three years that the Bears have a first-round pick as Roquan Smith was their last one in 2018.

The Bears have a multitude of needs in this draft that the first round could go in any direction for them. You can make the case for any position being more important than the others, but all in all, the Bears need a future quarterback. This mock draft addresses that. I made one trade in this draft to acquire that quarterback.

• The Chicago Bears trade pick no. 20 and a 2022 First and Third Round pick to the Denver Broncos for pick no. 9.

Additionally, this is my first and only mock conducted without a mock draft database as I will be doing it myself by assuming where players will be drafted in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Chicago Bears Round 1, Pick No. 9 via DEN

There have been rumors of the Denver Broncos trading back in the NFL Draft and Benjamin Allbright confirmed on Twitter that the Bears could move up here, so I took the trade rumor and used it for this mock draft. Justin Fields has been the rumored quarterback to fall with Mac Jones going third overall to the San Francisco 49ers. Fields is my second-highest graded quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft class.

Transferring to Ohio State was the best decision Fields made. His first year there, he earned himself second-team All American honors completing 67.2% of his passes for 3,273 yards, 41 touchdowns, and only three interceptions. He followed that up with an impressive 2020. Despite having a few rough patches, he still completed 70.2% of his passes for 2,100 yards and 22 touchdowns to only six interceptions in only eight games.

He was Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in both 2019 and 2020. Fields most impressive effort game against consensus number one overall pick Trevor Lawrence in which he out-dueled him throwing for 385 yards and six touchdowns.

Fields has the dual-threat capability that is desirable in a modern-day NFL quarterback. More and more, we are seeing quarterbacks like Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson excel both through the air and with their legs. Fields has that ability paired with an incredible arm.

He displays a high football IQ and great leadership that is constantly being hated upon with no evidence. Fields additionally displays toughness as well as he played through an injury against Clemson and continued to light it up.

There is a  high chance that drafting Fields would mean he is the day-one starter for the Bears. I don’t see a scenario that he loses out to Andy Dalton in a quarterback battle unless Matt Nagy deems him not ready yet, which sometimes is the case. Dalton could be used as a bridge for a year with Fields learning the offense.