Former NFL GM sends Bears a WR in 2021 mock draft

NFL Network’s Charley Casserly sent the Bears an after-the-catch wizard in his first 2021 NFL Mock Draft

Former Washington Football Team general manager and current NFL Network analyst, Charley Casserly, published his first mock draft of the 2021 NFL draft cycle last week and it maintained a trending narrative surrounding the Chicago Bears’ first-round pick.

Casserly sent Chicago the explosive playmaking wide receiver from the Florida Gators, Kadarius Toney.

If the Bears keep Allen Robinson and add Toney — a better prospect than Minnesota’s budding star Justin Jefferson was a year ago — they’ll all of a sudden have a formidable receiving corps.

Casserly’s assessment should pique Bears fans’ interest. He suggests Toney is a better prospect than Jefferson was last year — this after Jefferson posted a rookie season of 88 catches, 1,400 yards and seven touchdowns. It’s a bold statement by Casserly and one that I disagree with.

Toney isn’t as well-rounded of a wide receiver that Jefferson was coming out of LSU. He’s more of a short-to-intermediate target who will dazzle with after-the-catch magic, whereas Jefferson was a complete route-runner who showed he can win on all three levels of the passing game.

Still, adding Toney to the offense would be a boon for a Bears squad that hit on last year’s fifth-round pick, Darnell Mooney. If A-Rob returns, and a player like Toney is drafted, a trio of Robinson, Mooney, and Toney will be a handful for even the most skilled defensive backfields to deal with.