There were some conversations about the Chicago Bears, Caleb Williams, Justin Fields, and the team’s draft-pick status during Friday’s wedding dress rehearsal dinner. And I’m still alive to talk about it today. Hooray for healthy and fun discussions!
Keenan Allen put up 108 catches, 1,243 yards, and 7 touchdowns in 13 games with the Los Angeles Chargers last season. He made his sixth Pro Bowl in 2023 and earned Pro Football Focus’ 11th-highest grade among wideouts. D.J. Moore posted 96 catches, 1,364 receiving yards, and 8 touchdowns in 2023. He didn’t make the Pro Bowl (not like there wasn’t a case for him) but was PFF’s 10th-highest-graded receiver last year. I write all of that to say this: There should be no debate about whether the Bears have a legitimate WR1. They have two of them. Anyone trying to tell you otherwise doesn’t know ball or is disingenuous about it.
Even after bringing Allen on board, the Bears are still in a position to draft a wide receiver with the No. 9 pick. ESPN’s Courtney Cronin explores some of Chicago’s best options at No. 9, pulling this quote from Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus to give us some perspective:
“We’re going to get a ‘blue’ [the highest-rated prospect by how the team color codes its draft board] player there for sure,” coach Matt Eberflus said of the No. 9 pick. “What we’ve done in free agency allows us to be flexible, to really be able to take the best player, the one we feel fits for us in that spot.”
It would be a genuine surprise if the Bears took a player at a position that wasn’t wide receiver, offensive tackle, or pass rusher. And while I do love the idea of trading down in the 2024 NFL Draft, I can’t stop thinking about how this might be the last time this team picks in the top 10 for the foreseeable future. So perhaps the best course of action might be to take the best player available, ride it out, and hope for the best. If the Bears don’t trade back from No. 9, that wait until No. 75 is going to feel excruciatingly long.
Then again, I could probably use the time between Bears picks to knock some stuff off the to-do list that I’ve been putting off. Every cloud has a silver lining!
Another day, another ridiculous Caleb Williams highlight-reel throw that has me giddy about the Bears drafting the USC quarterback prospect:
During an appearance on 670 The Score, Sun-Times reporter Jason Lieser lays out the case to stand pat with the No. 9 pick:
“When you’re drafting ninth, you’re trying to draft an All-Pro. You’re trying to draft a guy that’s going in the Hall of Fame as a Bear. They need guys like that right now. They need blue-chip, five-star guys. I would like where I sit knowing that I would probably have my choice of the third-best receiver or the second-best left tackle or the best pass rusher in the draft at nine. I would not trade out of that. I would take the best available out of those three and I would hopefully be hanging that guy’s number in the Ring of Honor.”
One thought I often come back to: Stars win games. More specifically, stars at these positions win the biggest games: Stud quarterbacks, brick wall offensive tackles, game-breaking wide receivers, pass-rushing defensive linemen, and ballhawk lockdown cornerbacks. The Bears are in a position to draft an OT, WR, or DL who could be a game-changer. There is no denying that this team has holes to fill. But rostering stars helps mask those holes. Just ask Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Chris Jones.
We’re at a point of the year where mock draft fatigue sets in hard. But this one from PFF that has six cornerbacks going in Round 1 made my eyes open in a cartoonish fashion. More than anything, it makes me feel good that the Bears are settled at the CB position right now with young players on rookie deals. Don’t get me wrong. I’m always down to add more corners. And, frankly, the Bears should do that at some point this offseason. But I’d hate to be a Bears team with a CB need seeing six go off the board in the first round.
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I can’t believe people are trying to make “fetch” happen with a debate about who the NHL’s Rookie of the Year award winner should be. It should be Connor Bedard. And I believe it will be him, too. Over at BN Blackhawks, Tab explains why.
There are few things I enjoy as much as finding out the Chicago Bulls beat the New York Knicks in a basketball game. Shout out to Javonte Green, who scored a new career-high in points in just his fourth game back with the team.
Yours truly was in transit to a wedding, so I missed the bulk of Friday’s Chicago Cubs win against the Los Angeles Dodgers. So catching up with the highlights this morning was a treat:
NEWSLETTER
