The Chicago Bears should trade down in the first round

Currently, the Chicago Bears have the second overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. They should consider trading down from that spot.  The Bears may have found a bit of a spark with Justin Fields in year two.

He’s progressed a bit as a passer and has also shown an ability to run the ball at a high level.  He could be morphing into the NFC version of Lamar Jackson before our eyes.  The biggest issue with the Bears currently is the lack of talent on both sides of the ball.

The team is undergoing a clean rebuild in my opinion, so both sides of the ball, especially on offense are lacking playmakers.  This was evidenced by the Bears forking over a second round pick to land Chase Claypool, formerly of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Even with the addition of Claypool, the Chicago Bears are still missing a ton of talent with their pass catchers, and perhaps more importantly along their offensive line.

Currently, they are set to pick second overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.  Their eight game losing streak to bring them to a 3-12 mark is what has gotten them this high in the draft order.  Some may argue that Chicago should take the top rated offensive linemen or receiver.

However, the best of the best prospects in the coming draft, which Chicago may have a chance to pick, are quarterbacks and defensive players.  To me, that’s not the direction Chicago should go.  For that reason, they should consider trading down a few slots as they’d still be in position to land someone like Peter Skoronski if they pick closer to tenth overall than first overall.

Teams like the Panthers, Raiders or even Colts might want to trade up to that second slot to have the opportunity to select a quarterback.

The Chicago Bears appear to have that situation settled, but now it’s time to surround Justin Fields with the proper personnel to make a huge leap in year three, and the Bears trading down to acquire more draft picks gives them a bigger chance at hitting on those players.