Since the Chicago Bears season has wrapped up, it has been questions on if they should draft a quarterback, but the Bears have more important positions that need to be addressed.
It is no secret that the Chicago Bears’ defense was lackluster this past season. Losing Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, and Robert Quinn before and during the season didn’t help; the Chicago Bears ended this past season with the fewest sacks in the NFL. As we look ahead at this team’s top needs for the 2023 NFL Draft, it’s hard to ignore the defensive line at the top.
Chicago Bears 2023 NFL Draft need no. 1: Defensive line
Stopping the run was a problem for them, as they gave up the 2nd most rushing yards per game. The Chicago Bears were also 6th in yards per carry, but the Bears’ run-stop win rate was ranked 15th in the NFL, with a win rate of 30%. Though that seems good, the defense pass-rush win rate is ranked 23rd in the NFL, with a win rate of 37%
Since the Chicago Bears have the number one pick, they have options, and the top two should be Jalen Carter and Will Anderson Jr. Carter, a defensive tackle from Georgia. In 2022 Carter racked up 32 tackles, seven tackles for loss, three sacks, three pass deflections, and two forced fumbles.
Anderson is an outside linebacker from Alabama; though Anderson Jr. is an outside linebacker, he primarily rushes the passer. In 2022 Anderson Jr racked up 51 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, one interception, and one touchdown.
If the Bears decide to trade down to a later pick inside or outside the top 10, they can draft Tyree Wilson from Texas Tech or Lukas Van Ness from Iowa. Both players being edges, would take care of losing Akiem Hicks. Between these four players, the Bears can’t go wrong.
2. Wide Reciever
Before this season started, Chicago Bears fans were buying stock in Darnell Mooney being a number one receiver. Unfortunately, Mooney didn’t deliver last season, only catching 40 passes for 493 yards and two touchdowns. Mooney was also injured for a portion of the season, only playing 12-of-17 games.
Outside of Mooney, the Chicago Bears have Chase Claypool, Velus Jones Jr., Equanimeous St. Brown, and Nsimba Webster all under contract for next season. None of those receivers had over 350 yards last season, and with Justin Fields under center, the Bears should want to surround him with better talent.
Since the Bears have the number one pick, it is unlikely that they will be choosing a wide receiver in the first round. But the Bears should have plenty of receivers to choose from on days two and three of the draft. Some receivers they should look at are Nathaniel “Tank” Dell, Marvin Mims Jr, Josh Downs, Xavier Hutchinson, Parker Washington, and A.T. Perry. If the Chicago Bears front office gets lucky, they can pick Zay Flowers, Jordan Addison, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, or Quentin Johnston.
All these guys are impressive in their own ways; some are good at route running, and some are good at getting yards after the catch. But, more importantly, these players give the Bears options, and with the bears receiving core, they need to look at all the options.
3. Offensive Line
The Chicago Bears front office views Justin Fields as their franchise quarterback, But to keep him healthy, you have to be able to protect him from getting sacked. Last season Fields was sacked 55 times, tied for most in the NFL with Russell Wilson. This also resulted in Fields getting injured and limping in pain as the season went on.
So the pass-block for the bears was terrible, but the run-blocking was better than what people expected—having a run-block win rate of 74%, ranking 5th in the NFL. But this offensive line still needs help at left guard, center, left tackle, and right tackle.
With Cody Whitehair and Sam Mustipher having rocky seasons at left guard and center, the front office might look to replace them. In the draft at guard, you have O’Cyrus Torrence out of UCLA and Andrew Vorhees out of USC. There are more guards in this draft, but those are the top two options for most people. Luke Wypler (Ohio St) and John Michael Schmitz (Minnesota) are the top players in the draft at center; since center is a position usually picked on days two or three, the Bears may be able to choose one of these two players.
For the Best of both worlds, Chicago can draft Peter Skoronski out of Northwestern, and he plays both left tackle and left guard. Tackle is a stacked position in this class with players such as Paris Johnson Jr (Ohio St), Dawand Jones (Ohio St), Broderick Jones (Georgia), and Cody Mauch (North Dakota St), to name a few. The Bears will probably pick one of these players, and they can’t go wrong with their choice.
It will be interesting to see what the Chicago Bears do in this year’s draft; they might not go after all three of these positions because they have cap space to fill positional needs.