Answering the Real Bears Draft Questions

Every draft is like approaching game week.

There is a game plan. There are issues to overcome with the game plan.

The Bears go into the second draft of GM Ryan Poles with a different situation than they faced in his first draft.

While still rebuilding, they've already used plenty of money this year to acquire actual NFL level veteran talent with players like DJ Moore, Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards and Nate Davis.

They need more, but last year they were entering a draft after a free agency period when they made almost all their signings on one-year contracts with players who had more or less been unwanted by their previous teams. The cash wasn't there to get quality players because former GM Ryan Pace had fouled up their salary cap. Then, when they drafted they didn't have the picks available to get rookies because Pace traded them away.

Now Poles gets a real chance to make an impact.

There's a need for a real impact to be made.

Here are the five big questions facing the Bears and Poles as they head into the 2023 draft Thursday.

5. Will It Be Quality Over Quantity?

The idea last year when they had no cash for free agents, along with only six draft picks and no first-rounder, was simply to fill jerseys with bodies regardless of where they could find them. They wound up with eight picks after No. 167 and only three before No. 71.

The notion of getting as many picks as possible with hopes you might hit on a few late is like counting on winning the lottery for your annual income. Poles had no other choice than to buy some lottery tickets.

The idea should be as many early picks as possible now because that's where the real quality exists and the Bears have means to get there.

In the second year of the rebuild, it's about quality.

If this means trading away one of their extra third-round picks or even one of their extra second-round picks to move up into a higher spot on Day 2 of the draft—or even into the first round—then they should be willing to do it if there is a talent they've identified and want. If there's a way to trade away one of those extra fourth- or fifth-round picks to move up earlier into Day 2, they should do it.

The fourth round is nice for catching up on what they couldn't get to on the first two days, with some remaining quality talent. They found Eddie Jackson in Round 4. The fifth round sometimes still holds surprises, like Darnell Mooney, Jordan Howard or Adrian Amos. Real talent lies is in 1-3.

By the sixth round, it's not easy finding anything. The occasional Khalil Herbert pops up but last year Poles had six picks in the last two rounds and what did he get out of them? Answer: a punter. And you can find one of those in the sixth or seventh round of every draft because no one selects them until very late or they are picked up as undrafted free agents.

The last seventh-round starter the Bears drafted was tackle Charles Leno Jr. That was almost a decade ago. For every Herbert or DeAndre Houston-Carson in Round 6, there are a dozen Tayo Fabulujes or Al Afalaves.

Simply put, after Round 5 it's fishing time. Getting as many quality picks as possible early is the best approach and they need to answer this question with quality.

4. Does Rebuilding Trump Special Player?

This is one that requires soul searching.

When you look at this draft from afar, there are only two special talents, someone with unique abilities uncommon for their position. One is defensive tackle Jalen Carter and the other is running back Bijan Robinson. You might go five or six years and not find a player at those positions with that talent. Robinson is easily the most talented back since Saquon Barkley. From the way Carter dominated the defensive front in games, you might need to go back even farther than five or six years to find a suitable comparison.

Some think the quarterbacks include a few players like this, but if this is the case then why is everyone saying Southern Cal's Caleb Williams is really the quarterback to get? He's not coming to the draft until 2024. Quarterbacks in this draft are merely the best available this year.

Knowing Carter and Robinson are special, and if either somehow drops to No. 9, do the Bears take the best available athlete approach and ignore their needs at other positions by selecting one of the two?

In Carter's case, the talent is a need, and it would seem like a no-brainer they should take him despite off-field issues.

In Robinson's case, it's a rare talent at a position few teams seem to value. This franchise above all others should value it.

This decision would require real thought.

Being in a situation where they need quality talent at so many positions, drafting special might not be the right thing to do if you lack even average talent at other critical positions. The perfect example is on their offensive line.

3. Can They Really Help Justin Fields?

The Justin Fields issue is only third on this checklist, and the right question isn't even the one many people are asking.

The popular, misguided question is whether the Bears will find help for Justin Fields in this draft so he can prove himself.

If Fields didn't prove himself in the second half of last season already, then this regime really has a much higher demand from quarterbacks than almost all other teams. Fields was carrying the team last year from Weeks 7 through Week 16. He achieved a passer rating of 98.2 then, produced a much lower 2.7% interception and raised his touchdown rate to 6.6%. All are winning numbers for an NFL quarterback. He did this all while averaging 91 yards rushing per game, which is crazy talk.

These figures weren't the result of one or two good games. It was consistent, brilliant play. And he did it behind a porous offensive line that could at least run-block sufficiently, and with receivers who ranked in the bottom five if not last in the league. Remember, he didn't even have Darnell Mooney for a stretch of games then, or Chase Claypool for a few games.

The question is can they help Fields win games? It's not can they help him prove himself? He didn't win games during that rise last year but who would win when your defense is giving up 33.1 points a game? Maybe they should have asked him to go out on defense and tackle someone—he did everything else for them.

Getting better on defense constitutes helping Fields because it's easier to win games when you don't need 33.2 points a game to do it. Getting him blockers who let him throw to the better targets they've already acquired means helping him win.

They've already addressed receiver but if they can do that even more, then so be it. But the real needs are defense and the line to put him in position to win.

The best way to put this situation is Fields already proved himself. It's up to Poles, scouts and the personnel department to do the same by finding linemen and defensive players who help him win.

2. Can They Use Round 1 Like a Successful Team?

The two biggest questions facing the Bears in this draft have nothing to do with Fields.

They are about the general manager.

If the Bears are going to ever be a successful organization for an extended period, they're going to need to start treating Round 1 like other teams do. That means, it's important.

Priot to getting Fields in 2021, they had no first-rounder, no first-rounder, then Roquan Smith, Mitchell Trubisky, Leonard Floyd and Kevin White as first-round picks under Ryan Pace. Before former GM Phil Emery took the Kyles—Long and Fuller—they took Shea McClellin, Gabe Carimi, had no first- (or second-) round pick and took Chris Williams before they got Greg Olsen near the end of Round 1 in 2007.

They've almost always wasted the first round since they last went to the Super Bowl after the 2006 season. In that span they had only four first-round picks who amounted to much. They traded away Smith and Olsen. Only Fuller and Long were allowed to flourish, and Long got injured repeatedly. They almost lost Fuller as a restricted free agent.

The first round should be an elite talent who makes a huge impact, not one washout after another.

This organization will never get anywhere until they start to make effective picks in the first round.

1. Will They Get Elite Players at 'Premium Positions?'

This goes beyond the first round. It encompasses the entire draft.

Asked about Bears needs in the draft back earlier during the offseason, Poles came up with what has now become a catch phrase: "premium positions."

"It's hard to identify that right now, but I always go back to the premium positions," Poles said. "We're always gonna look at pass rushers, we're gonna look at offensive lineman, corners. I always start with the premium positions to see, you know, are we good enough in those? And then move on from there."

Last year the Bears had only three picks the first three days and no first-rounders.

They only drafted one player from a premium position even though they needed players at the same premium positions where they need them right now—offensive line, defensive line and cornerback.

Poles is right. Those are premium positions in the game today. So is quarterback, but they have one of those.

So does Poles even mean what he says?

Taking one player out of three at those premium positions in the first three rounds of his first draft didn't say much for him or his theory.

There is a new person running the show at Halas Hall now. Kevin Warren took over as president and CEO last week. The GM is on the spot now just like the head coach is.

If they don't start getting players in on a regular basis at premium positions early in drafts, then they'll need to start looking for someone else to draft them.

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