When the Chicago Bears traded up to select Mitch Trubisky in the 2017 NFL Draft, thoughts about the many other quarterbacks in the draft – the months of rumors, speculation, and draft trade anticipation – generally faded from our minds.
That was, perhaps, especially true for former Texas Tech QB Patrick Mahomes, who – unlike Trubisky, Deshaun Watson, DeShone Kizer, and Nathan Peterman – has yet to make a start with the team that used an early pick on him. The Kansas City Chiefs traded up to pick 10 to grab Mahomes, and then slowly set about developing him behind incumbent Alex Smith.
With the Chiefs having locked up their playoff spot, though, Mahomes’ start-less streak is about to end, as he’ll get the call this Sunday against the Denver Broncos on the road. (Led, by the way, by head coaching candidate, and current Chiefs OC Matt Nagy.)
More than being a notable draft-related tidbit, though, the news could directly impact the Bears, who are currently tied with those Broncos in the reverse standings. Thanks to the strength of schedule tiebreaker, if the Bears remain tied with the Broncos after this final week of the season, the Broncos will pick before the Bears in April.
… so, then, the Chiefs starting a rookie and resting some starters against the Broncos could prove to be great news for the Bears in the draft standings. Together with the Broncos, the Bears are also tied at 5-10 with the New York Jets (at New England Patriots) and the San Francisco 49ers (at Los Angeles Rams). The Patriots are not big on resting starters and can clinch home field advantage with a win, so they are probably going to take it to the Jets. But the Rams have already indicated they might rest some starters against the 49ers, who are clicking with Jimmy Garoppolo under center.
For the Bears, they’ll be facing a Vikings team trying to clinch a playoff bye, and they’ll be doing it on the road. I mean, I love the Bears and everything, but I hope they look great … while losing. And I also hope Mahomes struggles against the Broncos, the Rams roll over against the 49ers, and the Jets pull off a surprise in New England. If all that happens, the Bears would finish the season alone with the 6th worst record in football, and the 6th highest pick in April. I would extremely take that.
If the Bears should beat the Vikings … gulp, their pick could fall as far as 12.