Players the Chicago Bears could draft if they hadn’t traded for Justin Fields
Before you get your emotions in a tizzy, this is not an article trying to convince anyone that the Chicago Bears should not have made the trade last year for Justin Fields. I still fully believe that Justin Fields is going to be a superstar in this league. I also fully believe that trading up for Justin Fields would turn out to be the better move than staying at 20th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft and using the seventh-overall pick in this year’s draft.
That’s right, had the Chicago Bears not traded up from 20th to 11th with the New York Giants in the 2021 NFL Draft, then the Chicago Bears would have the seventh-overall pick in this year’s draft. If we were to imagine that the Bears did not make this move, then we can only assume who Ryan Pace would have selected at 20 last year.
Looking back at the results of the 2021 NFL Draft, a few names that the Chicago Bears may have ended up taking include:
- Kadarius Toney, WR – Drafted by the Giants at 20
- Christian Darrisaw, OT – Drafted by the Vikings at 23
- Greg Newsome, II – CB – Drafted by the Browns at 26
- Rashod Bateman, WR – Drafted by the Ravens at 27
- Eric Stokes, CB – Drafted by the Packers at 29
- Teven Jenkins, OT – Drafted by the Bears at 39
The problem with this situation is who is going to be the quarterback of the Chicago Bears? Would the team keep Nick Foles as the starter and hope to draft one in 2022? Would the team had drafted Kyle Trask (drafted 63rd overall to the Buccaneers), Kellen Mond (drafted 66th overall to the Vikings) or Davis Mills (drafted 67th overall to the Texans) at some point last year?
Playing the what-if game can get a little crazy but can also be fun. We need to at least look who the team would have potentially had on the roster in this scenario. Now, who could the Chicago Bears draft in the 2022 NFL Draft should they not had made the trade for Justin Fields.