Chicago Bears Can Break Decade Long Drought in This Year's NFL Draft

The 2023 NFL Draft is only a month away, and the big question for the Chicago Bears and fans alike revolves around which position the team should target with the ninth overall pick. With needs at edge rusher, offensive tackle, defensive tackle, and cornerback, there are a number of ways the team could go, but in recent history, the franchise has stayed away from one position in particular.

This year's draft will mark the 10-year anniversary since the team took Oregon offensive lineman Kyle Long with the 20th overall pick. Long enjoyed a relatively successful NFL career, which included seven years in Chicago, where he enjoyed multiple Pro Bowl selections despite semi-frequent injuries in the back end of his professional tenure. The selection of Long in 2013 is notable as it was also the last time that the Bears took an offensive lineman in the first round of the draft.

Are the Chicago Bears Going to Break this Decade Long Drought in April?

This 10-year gap makes the Chicago Bears one of six teams who have not drafted an offensive lineman in the first round over the past decade. The Bears are joined by the Kansas City Chiefs (Eric Fisher) and Jacksonville Jaguars (Luke Joeckel) in teams who last drafted an offensive lineman in the first round in 2013.

The only three teams with a longer such drought include the Pittsburgh Steelers, who drafted David DeCastro in 2012, the Green Bay Packers, who selected Derek Sherrod in 2011, and the Buffalo Bills, who took Eric Wood all the way back in 2009.

Of these six franchises, the Bears perhaps have the best chance to break their streak in this April's draft, as the ninth overall selection could very well become either Northwestern's Peter Skoronksi or Ohio State's Paris Johnson Jr., among many other talented prospects.

Looking at the teams who are on this list, it is difficult to figure out if avoiding drafting offensive linemen in the first round is a good or bad thing. Between these six teams, the Bears are the only one to have not played in at least one conference championship during this span. This includes the Chiefs' five consecutive AFC Championship appearances as well as the Packers' four NFC Championships over the 2010s and early 2020s.

The common denominator between all these championship appearances seems to be elite quarterback play despite a lack of premier, first-round talent across the offensive line. With quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, and Josh Allen, it seems very possible to make a deep playoff run without investing in the offensive line in the first round of a draft.

However, for a team like the Bears, who still do not exactly know what Justin Fields could look like with elite talent around him, it may still make sense to select an offensive lineman in the first round and end this decade-long drought. With only rare exceptions, there seems to be a correlation between a young quarterbacks' success and the talent across their offensive line early on.

Between Jalen Hurts' success in Philadelphia behind one of the best offensive lines in the league, Justin Herbert's elite play behind one of the league's best tackles in Rashawn Slater, and even Mahomes's success with strong offensive lines (which, to be fair, are usually built through trades and free agency), it seems that the Chicago Bears could do no wrong by finding Fields a high-caliber blocker at the top of this year's draft.

There is still a lot that can, and most likely will, happen before April's draft, but addressing the offensive line certainly has to be a priority for general manager Ryan Poles. There are a number of quality offensive linemen who may be available in the second round this year, but it might make sense for the team to break this decade-long streak and select an offensive lineman to protect the franchise quarterback and help out an already dominant rushing attack.