The Chicago Bears will enter the 2021 NFL draft cycle with a need at quarterback, even if Nick Foles proves worthy of another year under center.
In fact, it seems like a near certainty that Foles will be the incumbent next year this time. Mitch Trubisky is expected to move on in the offseason and it’s highly unlikely Chicago will invest more free-agent money in the position than they’re already playing Foles.
But that doesn’t mean the Bears won’t add a quarterback next offseason. They have to. Foles is more than capable of being a sound NFL starter, but with Chicago being his fifth team over a nine-year career, it’s risky to assume Foles will be a Bear beyond 2021.
That leaves the NFL draft as the most logical place for Chicago to land its future at the position.
Here’s the problem: The Bears won’t be in a position to draft one of the headliners at the top of Round 1 — Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State’s Justin Fields.
According to the most updated 2021 first-round order, the Bears hold the 25th overall pick. Lawrence and Fields won’t make it out of the top five.
Still, Chicago will have some quality prospects available for them to select on Day 2 (or maybe even later). Here are five legitimate possibilities:
Trey Lance, North Dakota State
Kyle Trask, Florida
Brock Purdy, Iowa State
Jamie Newman, Georgia
Tanner Morgan, Minnesota
Of this group, Lance is likely to be the only first-rounder. Even that could be a stretch right now despite the draft community all but anointing him as a surefire top-10 pick. There’s a chance Lance will slide to the latter portion of Round 1 because of his inexperience and level of competition. If he does, the Bears will waste little time selecting him.
Trask is off to a hot start for Florida in 2020 and looks like he’s taken a step forward in his development as a passer. He looks every bit the part of an NFL starter. There’s a chance he will leapfrog Lance as QB3 and sneak his way into the top-32.
Purdy and Morgan are Day-3 prospects who present as average all-around talents with a good football IQ. Those guys tend to work their way up a depth chart and for a Bears team that’s lacking any developmental players at the position, they could be ideal targets.
The wildcard of this group is Newman, who many pegged as a potential Joe Burrow-like riser after he transferred from Wake Forest to Georgia this season. His decision to opt-out and prepare for the NFL could cause his stock to suffer just a bit; NFL scouts are left using his Wake Forest tape instead of SEC film to formulate his final grade. He could be a massive steal if he slides a round or two because of it.