The Chicago Bears are in a good spot. Blessed with the overall no. 1 pick in April’s NFL draft, they’ll have first dibs on drafting any of college football’s top prospects thanks to last year’s mega pre-draft trade with the Carolina Panthers.
In this particular case, it likely means selecting USC Heisman award-winning blue chip quarterback prospect Caleb Williams and hoping to build a championship-level team around him.
But the Bears also have their own first-round draft pick this year, the overall ninth pick. That selection is also likely to produce an impact player for the team.
And while most of the attention of analysts and experts has gone to potential deals involving Chicago’s no. 1 pick, little has been paid to that no. 9 selection. The few who have focused on possible deals involving that pick have talked about the likelihood of the Bears trading down for additional draft picks. Almost nobody has talked up the possibility of them trading up with that ninth slot.
Chicago Bears Trading Up From No, 9
Dane Brugler of The Athletic brings up that possibility in the latest mock draft, dreaming up a scenario where Chicago makes a deal with a Los Angeles Chargers organization hungry for draft capital.
In this proposed deal, the Bears give up their no. 9 pick, their third-round pick (no. 75), and a 2025 fourth-round pick in return for the Chargers’ no. 5 pick.
And with that new no. 5 pick, Chicago would select wide receiver Rome Odunze from Washington.
Per Brugler:
“All right, now we’re cooking. The Chargers want to move back and add more picks as Jim Harbaugh rebuilds the roster to fit his vision.
For the Bears, fortune favors the bold. None of the top three receivers are falling to No. 9, and this is a relatively low price to pay for an impact pass catcher who will help win games from Day 1. Only GM Ryan Poles knows which receiver he would prefer in this scenario, but a popular theory to emerge from combine buzz was that a Bears-Odunze pairing might be the best fit in the draft.”
Some earlier mock drafts had projected the Bears selecting Odunze with their no. 9 pick, but things have changed and many experts feel that the top receivers may be gone by the ninth spot. At no. 5, the Bears may even have a shot at drafting wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. of Ohio State– who many regarded as the overall best prospect on the board– if there’s a run on quarterbacks at the top of the draft.
Adding Caleb Williams along with a top 2 wider receiver would give the Bears a passing-catching team that could grow together and develop into a dynamic duo for years to come.
No Need To Make A Deal?
Evan Winter of A to Z Sports, however, doubts that there will be a need to make a deal like the one mentioned above, since the wide receiver class is deep this year and, even if Chicago misses out on the top 2 wide receivers, there will still be quality alternatives.
One such alternative is actually at tight end.
Per Winter:
“Don’t count out Brock Bowers at No. 9, either. The Bears have a traditional inline tight end in Cole Kmet, which would allow Shane Waldron to use Bowers as the mismatch he is, more than a traditional Y. And we all know how much Waldron loves to use multiple tight end sets, as well.”
The Bears will have many options to ponder before this year’s draft and a legitimate chance to add the kind of talent that will help turn the team into a playoff contender for years to come.