The Chicago Bears may be 2-1, but this team needs a lot of work on both sides of the ball, and last year’s draft provides a blueprint for how this 2023 Mock Draft will likely be conducted. It’s Week 4 of the 2022-23 NFL Season. The Chicago Bears are 2-1, which means they are not the worst team in football as many predicted.
Ok, that’s nice, but last we checked, this roster doesn’t have enough talent as a whole, and frankly, there are problems on all sides. If anything, we saw against the Houston Texans that the offense was abysmal, and the defense was still having trouble at times.
The bad news is that with Justin Fields looking more and more shaken by the minute, the fear of potentially seeing another quarterback bust in Chicago is becoming more and more of a reality. But here’s the good news, the kid is willing to work to improve and should be given more chances to do it.
He will need some help, and the Chicago Bears need to do whatever it takes to get him that. With so much cap space to work with, Chicago will likely use that to retain a few players that deserve extensions (Roquan Smith) and then use the others to find key building blocks such as a 3T defensive tackle and possibly another OL.
The Chicago Bears need to ace the 2023 NFL Draft to be a competitive team in 2023 and beyond.
According to the Mock Draft Simulator, the Bears are currently scheduled to pick 22nd in the draft. That’s not exactly a good thing for a rebuilding team. But it does allow the flexibility to move down and garner more picks if necessary. That said, if memory serves, general manager Ryan Poles has shown a tendency for trading down in later rounds to acquire more picks.
In this simulation, the Bears increase their draft capital from six picks to ten picks. Plus, we have seen the type of players they want to draft. Good athletes at certain positions while taking late gambles on athletic ability. It’s an intelligent strategy if it pays off.
So far, players like Braxton Jones and Dominique Robinson, both late-round picks, have shown flashes of potential. Jones is a starter, while Robinson has factored into the rotation. Meanwhile, high picks like Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker also have shown potential and played meaningful snaps.
But again, one draft class won’t change the culture. It’s going to take at least two to three in order for significant results to show. That said, let’s begin the 2023 NFL Mock Draft for the Chicago Bears, starting with a foundation piece for the future.