Chicago Bears bank on Mac Jones in 7-round 2021 NFL mock draft

The Chicago Bears regular season and brief playoff run have subsided as the Super Bowl is upon us, meaning it’s time for the first 7-round 2021 NFL mock draft of the offseason.

The Chicago Bears finished their tumultuous 2020 a few weeks ago. They had their ups and their downs. It felt like they had multiple seasons wrapped in one. They started out 5-1 and found themselves on top of the NFC.

Despite not receiving many accolades for their start, Bears fans were ecstatic with the start. They had thoughts of a long playoff run and a possible Super Bowl appearance. Who cares that they struggled against some of the worst defenses in the league? A win is a win.

Then the second season began and it was a bad one for Chicago. They went to Los Angeles to face the Rams and had an awful showing on Monday Night Football. Things went downhill after that. They ended up losing six straight games and the offense just about ground to a halt. The unit averaged just 19.7 points per game.

Then, in the third season within the season, the Bears found their footing (albeit against weaker defenses again) again. They averaged 31.5 points per game and somehow found a way to make it into the playoffs. Of course, it was just a one-and-done as they got crushed by the New Orleans Saints.

Now Chicago has to find a way to rebuild the roster. Even though the Bears made the playoffs in two of their last three seasons, they still didn’t win any playoff games. If they want to be a real contender, they need to bolster the team.

One way of doing that is through the draft. The 2021 NFL Draft starts on April 29. The Bears might be in on the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes so their draft picks may be different but nothing happened yet so their picks are set for now.

Without further delay, here is our first Chicago Bears mock draft of the offseason.

If the Chicago Bears don’t end up acquiring Watson, they’ll end up going after a good free agent. If that is the case, they’ll still need to draft a quarterback. That quarterback should be Alabama’s Mac Jones.

Jones isn’t someone who will wow you with his abilities. What he will wow you with, however, is how he limits his mistakes. He’ll make the right plays and manage the game well. This is what the Bears offense needs. There have been plenty of times when receivers have been open but the ball didn’t get to them.

Jones’ ability to process a play quickly is something the Bears need desperately. With Mitchell Trubisky, he took too much time to process a play and missed making the right play. He’d panic and try to force things.

This is something you don’t see from Jones. He is calm under pressure and finds the open receiver. He had a plethora of great receivers at Alabama but he was able to keep them all happy by distributing the ball well.

General manager Ryan Pace talked about being aggressive in the quarterback market through the draft by drafting one in every draft if necessary. That hasn’t happened. He is in a “win now” situation but if he cannot acquire Watson he needs to hit on two of them. One needs to be a possible bridge quarterback to step in until whoever gets drafted this year is ready to take over.

Jones wouldn’t need much time to sit and learn and should be a great pick to help save Pace’s job.