The hierarchy of draft strategies for the Chicago Bears to use in 2021 Draft

The Chicago Bears should follow this hierarchy of draft decisions this week

Getting back to the Bears hierarchy of draft decisions, let’s assume none of the above options is available to them. There are still some very good options for Pace and the Bears to take. At this point, my preference would be for them to trade back and pick up an extra pick in the second or third round. Then with a late first-rounder or early second-round pick draft Kellen Mond.

Next, use a second-round pick to draft the best left tackle on the board. Again, I find Chris Simms’ take on this year’s quarterbacks invaluable when choosing one in this draft. Simms ranks Mond as his number four quarterback and ahead of Justin Fields.

He has also ranked Trevor Lawrence second with Zach Wilson first. He describes Mond as an accurate QB with good decision-making skills who also has a strong arm and running ability. In watching Simms interview Mond, it is quite apparent the young quarterback is intelligent and mature. His main criticism of Mond is that he plays too stiff and therefore conservative.

He wants to see Mond break out of play it safe mode and take more chances to turn a busted play into a good play. Fixing this problem is a lot more realistic than fixing Justin Fields’ mechanics and decision-making.

Simms also believes that Jimbo Fisher’s play-calling was way too predictable and opposing defenses were ready for the plays Fisher called. In spite of this Mond and the Aggies only lost one game in 2020 playing in the SEC. Simms makes a good case for the possibility that there is lots of untapped potential in Kellen Mond that Jimbo Fisher’s faults kept hidden.

To put a point on it, it is more likely a team can tap into all of Kelln Mond’s potential than the likelihood of tapping into all of Justin Fields’ potential. The reason being Mond is already accurate and has proven he can consistently make good decisions to go along with strong leadership skills.

Mond makes more sense to me than hoping and praying a team can take a quarterback like Fields with accuracy and decision problems but has a strong arm and can run with the ball and turn him into a very good quarterback.

In my opinion, potential in a quarterback should be defined as a player utilizing his leadership, his accuracy and his capacity to make great decisions under pressure that all can lead to winning many games including many big games and winning the biggest game. Then we have the current NFL decision-makers, their support system, and the media.

Many if not most of them are working hard to convince themselves a quarterback now must have running ability to give them the extra edge needed to win games. This has led to what appears to be the current definition of high QB potential. That being a quarterback with a strong arm who is also a good runner. They want to take this guy and teach at the NFL level how to read defenses and how to improve his accuracy.

Learning how to read defenses can be done but it typically takes time to get it done. Then there is this. NFL history is littered with failed quarterbacks who could not improve their accuracy as this is the highest potential mountain to climb for a young NFL QB.

One of the most recent quarterbacks to improve his accuracy after getting to the NFL is Josh Allen. However, his issues were mainly with his upper body. Fixing footwork problems once you get to the NFL is the mechanical issue that seems virtually impossible to get fixed.

There you have it Bears fans. There is some hope but there is also tons of uncertainty. I know many if not most of you don’t trust Ryan Pace to make the most out of this offseason including this critical draft.

For my money, I believe Pace is learning from his mistakes which is more than I can say for what Matt Nagy did in 2020. I believe Pace is quite capable of making some good decisions including with quarterbacks. Maybe he will also have the opportunity and the foresight to make some great decisions in this draft and beyond.