Chicago Bears: Post-first round mock draft builds around Justin Fields

Justin Fields. That’s it. Ryan Pace did it and won over the fan base. If you had not heard yet, Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace traded up from 20th overall to 11th overall to secure Quarterback Justin Fields out of Ohio State who surprisingly fell. The Bears now have their next shot at a franchise quarterback in Fields and may have gotten the steal of the first round.

Now that Fields is here, it makes it clear the Bears want to build around him. They need to give him plenty of weapons and protection in the remaining NFL Draft. With the trade up, the Bears only gave up two 2021 picks in the 20th overall pick and their fifth-round pick. So, the Bears’ remaining picks are 52, 83, 204, 208, 221, and 228.

The best thing the Bears can do now is trade back and get a fourth or fifth-round pick back. So, I initially traded back with the New Orleans Saints from 52nd to 60th and received the 133rd overall pick as well. I then traded up two spots in the sixth round giving up a 2022 seventh-round pick in addition to the 204th pick. So, my picks were 60, 83, 133, 202, 208, 221, and 228.

Chicago Bears Round 2, Pick No. 60 via NO

A few good offensive tackles fell out of the first round of the NFL Draft such as Teven Jenkins and Samuel Cosmi. Like a domino effect, the other remaining offensive tackles will fall as well and luckily, at 52nd overall, I saw plenty of options that I knew would allow me to trade back and secure a great option like Liam Eichenberg who grades out as my eighth-best offensive tackle in the draft class.

Coming from offensive line university, Eichenberg was a three-year starter for the Fighting Irish and an anchor for the left side of the offensive line for all three years. He played solid his first two years, but he truly broke onto the scene his senior season in which he earned second-team All-American honors. Eichenberg went 33 straight games without allowing a single sack.

Although not allowing a sack, Eichenberg still struggles in pass-blocking as that is his only weakness. He doesn’t have the immediate lateral quickness in pass sets to lock down his edge rusher. But, Eichenberg is a mauler in the run game and could easily slide to the right side at the next level and be a force there. He always strikes opposing defenders aggressively and uses his strength and underrated athleticism to climb to the second level with ease.

As stated, Eichenberg projects as a right tackle, so he could immediately compete with Germain Ifedi for that starting job at right tackle. Ifedi is a great depth piece at the least and could even move over to guard if Eichenberg is ready on Day One. With his experience, he should be ready to take over right away and could even be the right tackle for the future with our quarterback for the future.