It's a foregone conclusion that the Chicago Bears will select Caleb Williams first overall in the upcoming NFL Draft. Whether you are a Fields stan who is still simmering about his trade or a Williams stan who has been wanting the Bears to draft him since last season, there is no point in trolling each other anymore. It's time to bury the hatchet and move on.
We should thank our lucky stars that the Bears were able to fleece the Carolina Panthers and their decrepit owner David Tepper, and former general manager Scott Fitterer, who got fired after giving the Bears wide receiver DJ Moore and their 2025 second-round pick also. Even though they have been spending a lot in free agency this off-season to be more competitive next season, that second-round pick is expected to be fairly high.
While the Bears are devoting their attention to the draft as they've been busy attending pro-day workouts, the only question on the minds of the Bears fans is what will they do with their 9th overall pick. They have plenty of options and are in a great spot. Here are four questions to keep an eye out for in the upcoming draft.
Question No.1: Are the Bears really content with only four picks?
The Bears currently have only four picks: 1, 9, 75, and 122. After they are done picking in the top 10, there are huge gaps between the 9th pick and their 75th pick. Ryan Poles was asked at an annual NFL league meeting in Orlando last month if he is content with staying with only four picks. He has indicated he is content with only 4 picks if there are no good offers available.
Poles does have a point. He cited they have had 25 picks in 3 years thanks to trades he has made since he took over. Not all of the draft picks will pan out, but the roster looks much better than when he first took over. You can make the argument that he used 2024 draft picks to acquire proven NFL talents in Montez Sweat(2nd round pick) last year and now Keenan Allen(4th round pick) last month, and still add four more players in the draft. It is really wild to think about that. If they stick with only four picks, perhaps this is why.
Head coach Matt Eberflus also chimed in and said they would add blue talent with their 9th overall pick, so it seems the trade-down scenario is dead, right? Despite adding both Sweat and Allen, the Bears' position of need is still wide receiver and an edge rusher. They have the luxury to pick either position at the 9th overall pick. But can they wait until the 75th overall pick to make their next pick?
The draft experts have repeatedly stated an incredible depth of wide receivers available in this year's draft after Marvin Harrision Jr., Malik Nabers, and Rome Odunze. Some mock drafts have them picking Rome Odunze, which is a dream scenario while others have Jared Verse or Dallas Turner. The Bears might want to ease Eberflus' anxiety by drafting an edge rusher with their 9th overall pick first.
But even with great depth at a wide receiver position, many of them will be gone before the Bears' next pick at 75. Therefore, the best-case scenario is that the Bears trade down between the 12th and 15th pick, get another 3rd-round pick, and still get either a receiver like Brian Thomas Jr. or an edge rusher like Jared Verse and Laiatu Latu is still available. Or they could surprise everyone by drafting a 3T defensive lineman like Byron Murphy or Jer'Zhan Newton, another position of need for Eberflus' defense.
This is contingent on what happens with the first 8 picks. Who could move up to pick a quarterback after Caleb Williams, a wide receiver, or a highly-rated offensive lineman? The 9th pick could be a valuable spot for some teams that could get desperate and want to move up. Will the Bears answer the call or will they stay put?
Question No.2: Could the Bears move up to get the blue player they want? And at what cost?
The Bears are used to trading down. But will they move up for a guy like Marvin Harrison Jr
if he is somehow available?
Former NFL GM turned ESPN Analyst recently posted a wild mock draft where he had the Bears drafting probably the best player in this draft regardless of the position with the 9th pick. You think that is crazy? He has the Arizona Cardinals, where many draft experts have them picking Harrison with their 4th overall pick the entire off-season, drafting quarterback J.J. McCarthy, and trading quarterback Kyler Murray to the Minnesota Vikings for their 11th pick.
The Minnesota Vikings could still move up to the 4th pick and draft a quarterback, which would eliminate Arizona from taking Harrison. But the Los Angeles Chargers picking 5th, who lost both Mike Williams and Keenan Allen, and the New York Giants picking 6th could still pick him. Even if Harrison has been absent from the traditional workouts prospects usually do in either the NFL Combine or Pro Day, it would be hard to imagine the NFL circle holding it against him, causing his stock to drop. But we have seen crazier things happen on draft night.
Pairing Caleb Williams with any top 3 receivers in this year's draft would be a dream scenario for the Bears to help accelerate his development. The Bears have been wrong whenever they drafted quarterbacks for a long time and Ryan Poles is determined not to make the same mistakes by having plenty of weapons and protections for Williams to start his career.
Could he send the 2025 2nd-round pick from Carolina and their 2024 4th-round pick(122nd) to move up to the top 5 with the Los Angeles Chargers while getting their 4th(105th) and 5th-round pick(140th) in return? It would be ironic that Jim Harbaugh would make a deal to help the Bears. But for a talent like Marvin Harrison Jr, the price could be worth it. But does Poles see it that way?
Question No 3: Could the Bears still draft a center despite adding two veteran centers?
Ryan Poles addressed the biggest issue since he took over as the general manager by parting ways with both Cody Whitehair and Lucas Patrick at center. He traded for Ryan Bates from the Buffalo Bills and signed Coleman Shelton from the Los Angeles Rams.
Poles originally signed Bates to an offer sheet two years ago only to see the Bills match their offer. Now he gets his guy two years later after giving up their 2024 5th-round pick. Adding Shelton to a one-year deal further solidifies the position. But some fans are wondering if we are looking at Cody Whitehair/Lucas Patrick's situation at center once again: Different names, the same quality, and the same old problems.
The only center who could be drafted in the first round is Jackson Powers Johnson from Oregon. He was coached by the Bears' tight end coach Jim Dray during the Senior Bowl, so they have very good intel on him. But drafting him at 9th is a total reach. Trading down while adding extra 3rd and 4th-round picks to get him seems more plausible. Still, pairing a rookie quarterback with a rookie center seems very risky, which is why adding two veterans with starting experience made sense.
The other centers that could attract strong interest around the league include West Virginia's Zach Frazier, Sedrick Van Pran from Georgia, Beaux Limmer from Arkansas, Hunter Nourzad from Penn State, and Tanor Bortolini from Wisconsin.
Despite upgrading the position, the Bears could still draft a rookie center who can be developed and take over as the starting center in 2025 since Shelton is only signed through the 2024 season while Bates' contract expires after the 2025 season. If they do not want to draft a center, they could still sign one as an undrafted rookie to be placed on a practice squad. We will eventually find out how much Poles truly value the center position.
Question No.4: Do the Bears still see Braxton Jones as their left tackle of the future?
While we are on the subject of the offensive line, the Bears offensive line looks set. Right tackle Darnell Wright should be better in his second year, Ryan Bates will likely be the starting center while they hope both starting guards Teven Jenkins and Nate Davis will bounce back. Jenkins played well when he was healthy, but once again injury bug bit him. Davis' season was marred by family matters that forced him to miss OTAs and training camps. Bears hope Davis has put last year behind him and is ready for the upcoming 2024 season.
The wild card is left tackle Braxton Jones. He has done well for a player taken in the 5th round back in the 2022 NFL Draft. Last year he suffered a neck injury that forced him to miss 4 games. Still, there are strong rumors out there that the Bears drafting an offensive lineman at the 9th pick.
If Notre Dame's Joe Alt, and Penn State's Olu Fashanu, a high school teammate of Caleb Williams in Washington DC are still on the board when the Bears make their second first-round selection, does Poles decide to either draft one to help protect Williams for at least a decade or trade down to get extra picks and still get Alabama's JC Latham, or Washington's Troy Fautanu somewhere between 15-20th pick?
The Bears have had bad luck with left tackles in the past by settling for players like J'Marcus Webb, Charles Leno, and Jones, who were drafted in the lower rounds. Despite their efforts, they never became a long-term fixture at left tackle. Did Jones play well enough to be a long-term starter moving forward or does Poles see an opportunity to upgrade the most important position next to quarterback in this draft?
Remember, Ryan Poles was an offensive lineman when he was at Boston College, so he knows the importance of the position. They already drafted Darnell Wright last season. Drafting both quarterback and left tackle in one draft, two positions that have plagued this franchise for a long time should not surprise anyone. If you want Williams to stay healthy long-term, they must find ways to keep his pocket clean as long as possible.
Poles is determined to break the Bears' horrid cycle at quarterbacks. It might not be well received if they took an offensive lineman over a receiver whether at 9th pick or later. But Poles probably knows having two picks in the top 10 will not happen again. Upgrading the left tackle position might be higher on his priority list than anyone realizes.