NEWSLETTER
We’re 10 weeks into the college football season, and the one big takeaway to this point could have major ramifications for the Chicago Bears.
And here it is: There are a ton of intriguing draft-eligible quarterbacks. More to the point is this, the more draft-eligible first-round quarterback prospects emerge, the more likely the Bears will be in a position to draft one.
Matt Miller (Bleacher Report) projects six (!) quarterbacks going in the first-round of the 2021 NFL Draft. So does Chris Trapasso (CBS Sports). Luke Easterling (Draft Wire) has six going in the first two rounds, which is still plenty. Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News) predicts five are selected. Meanwhile, Glynn Morgan (NBC Sports Chicago) has four landing in the first round. Most importantly, three of the five mocks linked above have the Bears taking a quarterback. So even though they aren’t in a position to capitalize on landing the best members of a top-heavy class, there are a number of intriguing prospects whose stocks are on the rise. With that in mind, I suppose we might as well get to know the guys who aren’t Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence or Ohio State’s Justin Fields.
The football community has been talking up Lawrence and Fields for quite some time. But potentially joining them could be Trey Lance (North Dakota State), Zach Wilson (BYU), Kyle Trask (Florida), Mac Jones (Alabama), and Kellen Mond (Texas A&M).
And for what it’s worth right now, Wilson seems to have captured the imagination of draftniks and Bears fans alike:
I woke up this morning to a much more crowded #BYU QB Zach Wilson bandwagon than 12 hours ago.
Good to have y'all, Wilson is the real deal.
— Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) November 7, 2020
Zach Wilson. I’m in.
— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) November 7, 2020
Lol pic.twitter.com/3f3UUxcNAl
— Eric Edholm (@Eric_Edholm) November 7, 2020
Zach Wilson is just messing with us at this point. Unreal pic.twitter.com/Ht0xb8Hxq3
— Jacob Infante (@jacobinfante24) November 7, 2020
Zach Wilson is awesome which ultimately will translate into him going way higher than the #Bears will pick.
— Aaron Leming (@AaronLemingNFL) November 7, 2020
Here’s a bonus thought. Should the Bears address their quarterback needs elsewhere, such as trade or free agency, then it would leave Chicago in a place where it could take the best player at another position of need. For instance, Morgan’s mock draft at NBC Sports has the Bears selecting Clemson left tackle Jackson Carman. Addressing offensive line needs is something I don’t believe GM Ryan Pace has done well while in Chicago. So drafting Carman would represent a step in the right direction. Iyer’s mock sends stud Alabama receiver Jaylen Waddle to the Bears. It’s not as if this team couldn’t use another playmaker (or two).
We still have bigger fish to fry with the Bears as far as the 2020 NFL season is concerned. So I don’t want to dive too deeply into this quarterback crop. And yet, I’m over here like:
— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) November 7, 2020
