Get used to it, Bears fans. The narrative surrounding Chicago during the preparation of the 2021 NFL draft will focus on the quarterback and for good reason.
The long-awaited departure of Mitch Trubisky and the failed exchange of Nick Foles has QB as the team’s greatest need and, with a few pins worthy of the first round of this year’s class, it makes sense to connect the Bears with at least one of them.
Here’s the problem: Chicago is eighth in the overall standings, which usually means they’ll be out of the strike zone for any of this year’s top names. Or will they?
According to the latest 2021 draft of The Draft Network, the bears trade aggressively up to No. 8 overall to acquire Trey Lance from the state of North Dakota.
The author of the drill, Ben Solak, has GM Ryan Pace separating from this year’s twentieth selection and the first and third rounds in 2022 to switch places with the Panthers for Lance, the FCS signal caller, simple and straightforward.
You can’t win without a quarterback, and the Bears currently don’t have one. So Pace underwrites another mortgage against his future options, this time moving up to the first round to grab his quarterback: Trey Lance. Lance is an uncertain bet because he only has a year of initial experience and was at FCS level, but don’t confuse that with being a “raw” customer. Lance makes mature decisions and has an impressive risk aversion for a young player: there are no 0 interceptions by chance. It will be good for the bears, although the condition of their OL and WR room is at their disposal for deliberation.
This is the leap of faith with Lance, who only has one season of headline experience at a lower college ball level. Sure, Lance has all the traits needed for a first-round pick, but it also calls for the kind of prospect he’ll be able to fire a CEO in a year or two.
The buyer was careful with Lance and, given the warming seat in which both Pace and coach Matt Nagy find themselves, I imagine they will look elsewhere for their quarterback solution.
In round 2, Solak sends Bears college teammate Lance on an offensive attack to Dillon Radunz. This is a selection that would qualify as a home run on my scale, considering I think Radunz has a first-round capability. The only thing stopping him from receiving an infallible mark in the first round is the level of competition he faced in the state of North Dakota.
Radunz will take part in the 2021 Senior Bowl, where he will have the opportunity to show off his skills against the top competition. If he holds on to Mobile, Alabama, he will elevate his shares to that first-round range.
The Bears need help along the offensive line and can especially use an improvement in attack, where the best days of Charles Leno Jr. and Bobby Massie may be behind them.
Introduce Radunz, who would be an immediate improvement in athletics in this position and would probably win an initial role early in his Bears career, should that choice come to fruition.