The Chicago Bears are finally back in the first round of the NFL draft after paying off their debt to the Las Vegas Raiders for the Khalil Mack trade back in September 2018.
Armed with the 20th pick overall and a total of six selections (before compensatory picks), GM Ryan Pace will have a great opportunity to address several of his roster’s biggest needs.
Most of those needs come on the offensive side of the ball, and that’s where this seven-round mock draft gets started.
Round 1: Rashod Bateman | WR | Minnesota
There’s going to be a huge run on wide receivers in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft, so if the Bears want to find an adequate replacement for the expected departure of Allen Robinson, they’ll have to strongly consider using their first pick.
Enter Bateman, who possesses a skill set similar to Robinson’s in how he can win on all three levels of the field. At 6-2 and 210 pounds, Bateman would be the perfect complement to Darnell Mooney and provide the Bears with an up-and-coming tandem at wide receiver.
Round 2: Dillon Radunz | OT | North Dakota State
The biggest need the Bears must address this offseason is the offensive line. In this mock draft, they hit a home run in Round 2 with the selection of Radunz, who possesses a first-rounder’s skill set but is making the difficult transition from FCS competition.
Radunz can benefit early in his career from sitting behind veteran starters Charles Leno Jr. and Bobby Massie, but if this pick comes to fruition in the 2021 NFL draft, it’ll be hard to keep a player with his skill set on the bench.
Round 3: Trey Smith | iOL | Tennessee
The fix on offense continues in the third round with the selection of Smith, who slides this far in the draft because of health concerns related to the battles he’s had with blood clots in his lungs during his time as a Volunteer.
Smith is worth the risk on Day 2. He’s an upgrade over Alex Bars and would bring the Bears the kind of big, strong and physical presence the interior of the offensive line has been lacking for quite some time.
Round 5: Patrick Johnson | Edge | Tulane
Fans of defense don’t will get their fill on Day 3, and it begins with Tulane edge rusher, Patrick Johnson.
The Bears have to swing on a few more pass rushers in the 2021 draft because of the disappointing season from Robert Quinn, who actually proved to be less productive than the former first-round pick he replaced, Leonard Floyd.
Johnson is a raw pass-rusher who at best would be a rotational piece early in his career, but you can never have enough guys who have an eye for the quarterback. Johnson totaled seven sacks in nine games in 2020.
Round 6: Austin Watkins Jr. | WR | UAB
Circle this name as a sleeper in the 2021 draft class. The 6-3, 205-pound cousin of Sammy Watkins is a supremely talented pass-catcher who’s been an afterthought in the run-up to the 2021 draft so far.
That should change with a big week at the Senior Bowl and all of the upcoming NFL draft events. I currently have Watkins graded as a third-round talent, so landing him in Round 6 would qualify as a major steal on my board.
Coming out of this draft class with a wide receiver depth chart that includes Darnell Mooney, Rashod Bateman, and Watkins should have every Bears fan excited.
Round 7: K.J. Costello | QB | Mississippi St.
The Bears had to come away with at least one quarterback in this mock draft, right?
I’m not certain Costello would even make the roster for 2021, but Pace has to take a swing on the position and Costello is the type of player who’s most likely to be around at the end of the draft.
His mechanics are flawed and he seemingly hit his ceiling early in his career at Stanford, but hey, you never know. Drafting quarterbacks is like buying scratch-off tickets. Usually, it doesn’t work out. But when it hits? It can hit big.
