Regardless of how well Chicago Bears quarterback Nick Foles plays in 2020, there’s a really good chance GM Ryan Pace (assuming he’s still the general manager when the 2021 NFL draft rolls around) will be in the quarterback market in the early rounds.
In fact, the Bears could find themselves in the first-round quarterback discussion.
Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence will be the undisputed top signal-caller in the class, and he’ll be the first overall pick. The Bears won’t be bad enough to land him. But the next two guys — Ohio State’s Justin Fields and North Dakota State’s Trey Lance — might be a different story.
Fields projects as a top-five pick, but whacky things always happen when it comes to the NFL Draft. He could experience a first-round slide, which could put the Bears in range if they end up with a pick in the middle of Round 1.
Lance, while possessing first-round ability, is more likely to wait a bit longer and feels like the kind of prospect who a team can land in the backend of the first round.
But which of the two do Bears fans prefer?
Twitter user “Picks for Pace” posed this question to fans on Thursday and the results are clear: Bears fans prefer Fields by a wide margin.
#Bears fans, you can only pick one for the 2021 #NFLDraft. Who are you going with?
RT-Trey Lance
Like- Justin Fields pic.twitter.com/EbFixFP27F— Picks for Pace (@PicksForPace) October 15, 2020
At 4-1, the Bears are a virtual lock to end up with a first-round pick outside the top-five. A few more wins (which is a likely outcome) will push the Bears outside the top-10. At that point, landing Fields will require a draft-day slide or an aggressive trade up by Pace, and we know how a trade like that worked out the last time he moved up for a quarterback.