The Bears need to give up the dream of landing a franchise quarterback at No. 20 in the upcoming NFL Draft. While there are examples of quarterbacks being taken there or much later and turning into stars, the odds are against it.
And waiting for one of the top five prospects to fall to them at No. 20 is completely unrealistic, ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper said Monday. He’s rarely at a loss for words, but seemed genuinely stumped by the quarterback puzzle general manager Ryan Pace is trying to solve this offseason.
“I don’t think any of the [top] five will be there — that’s the problem,” Kiper said. “If they move up, that’s the only option.
“They keep holding out hope, it seems like, that they can make a trade for Russell Wilson, but I don’t necessarily see that happening. And they didn’t make a move to try to get Carson Wentz. I don’t know where they’re gonna go for a quarterback. Marcus Mariota’s name has been circulating. But they’re a tricky team to try to figure out who the quarterback’s gonna be.”
The Bears were rumored to be pursuing Wilson and Deshaun Watson, but there’s been little evidence either player is legitimately on the trading block.
Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence is the consensus gem of this quarterback class. BYU’s Zach Wilson, North Dakota State’s Trey Lance, Ohio State’s Justin Fields and Alabama’s Mac Jones round out the top five.
Kiper predicted all of them will be gone by the 12th pick, leaving Florida’s Kyle Trask as the top quarterback the Bears could hope to land early in the draft.
