History says Chicago Bears are unlikely to draft this player if they own the top pick

There isn't a guarantee that the Chicago Bears own the top spot in the 2024 NFL Draft, but their chances of being at the top of the draft order are very high thanks to a 2023 trade with the Carolina Panthers. Should the Bears finish with the top pick in the draft, it's unlikely that they look at selecting a certain player fans are hoping to see land on this roster.
Chicago Bears, 2024 NFL Draft
Chicago Bears, 2024 NFL Draft / Jon Durr/GettyImages
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Chicago Bears, Marvin Harrison Jr.
Chicago Bears, Marvin Harrison Jr. / Ben Jackson/GettyImages

If I could choose the best scenario for the Chicago Bears going forward, it would have to be Justin Fields coming back in Week 11 vs. the Lions and proving he is a franchise quarterback. He would do this by not only playing well this week, but he'd show consistency over the final seven games with not only his feet, but also his arm and decision-making. We don't need to see huge games like we saw against the Broncos and Commanders, but we need to see something closer to 250 yards passing and nothing worse than a 2:1 touchdown-to-turnover ratio.

If that happens and the Chicago Bears land the top pick in the draft thanks to the Panthers, then Ryan Poles can move down from one to two or three, still get Marvin Harrison, Jr., and hopefully still land one of Olu Fashanu or Joe Alt with their own first-round pick. At the very worst, they could hopefully land Marvin Harrison, Jr., and an EDGE rusher. The only problem there is that I'd prefer one of the top two left tackles to someone like Dallas Turner out of Alabama.

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Again, the whole point here is that over the last 87 years of the NFL Draft, we have only seen a wide receiver taken first overall three times. That's less than a 4% likelihood of this happening. I know many people will ignore history and say that Harrison is a generational talent and if it were to happen, 2024 is the year. If Harrison was draft-eligible in 2023, I'd agree with you. However, this is a quarterback-driven league and Caleb Williams and Drake Maye bring too much to the table to think Harrison is selected over both of them.