Over the weekend, the Chicago Bears declined Mitchell Trubisky’s fifth-year option for 2021. Accompanied by the fact that performance incentives can potentially make Nick Foles a free agent, the quarterback position remains a substantial question mark after this year.
It should be noted that the Bears can place the franchise or transition tag on Trubisky. But based on the 2020 franchise tender values, both values are relatively equal to what his fifth-year option would have cost.
That said, the Bears will hold a first-round pick for the first time since 2018 and could potentially grab their franchise quarterback. Unless things go even worse than last year, they will almost certainly have no shot at landing Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence.
Let’s look at three players they could target in the first round.
Trey Lance, North Dakota State
Lance’s stock has picked up steam ever since the 2020 NFL Draft concluded. He came to Fargo as a three-star prospect from Marshall, Minnesota, and may end up following Carson Wentz’s path to the NFL.
In his first full year as a starter, Lance passed for nearly 2,800 yards with 28 touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also has the added benefit of picking up yards with his feet, as he rushed for 1,100 yards and crossing the goal line 14 times there as well.
Brock Purdy, Iowa State
Purdy took over for an injured Kyle Kempt and lackluster Zeb Noland in 2018, and he never looked back. He followed up an impressive freshman campaign with nearly 4,000 passing yards to go along with a 27-to-9 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
He’s not a significant threat in the rushing department, but he did cross the goal line eight times. At 6-foot-1, Purdy is on the smaller size for NFL quarterbacks, but his predecessors in Drew Brees and Russell Wilson are great examples of not allowing their height to define them.
Tanner Morgan, Minnesota
Morgan led the Gophers to their first double-digit win season since 2003. He had a wealth of talent at the wide receiver position at Minnesota, but he’s also an extremely accurate passer. As a sophomore, Morgan threw for 3,253 yards – at a 10.2 yards-per-attempt – and completed 66.0 percent of his passes.
We’ll get a good look at him without his top receiving target Tyler Johnson, who was taken by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fifth round. Morgan is the least mobile of all quarterbacks noted here, but he’s carving himself out to be a first-round pick in 2021.
