For The Win

● By Christian D'Andrea

Accuracy: 9.13%633rd Place
Let’s get this out of the way right now. The Chicago Bears have the first selection in the 2023 NFL Draft. They will not be taking a quarterback. The Bears failed upward into the premier pick in this spring’s draft. That puts them in prime position to select Alabama passer and former Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young. They will not — or, since this is Chicago and logic is merely a suggestion, should not — do this with Justin Fields behind center. The second-year quarterback was electric in 2022 and single-handedly served as the optimism engine for a team that surrounded him with terrible blocking and an anonymous receiving corps. Fields deserves the opportunity to see this through with a true NFL roster and the talent to bring the Bears to the postseason. Chicago will have no shortage of avenues to beef up its roster around him. First will be through an estimated league-high $92 million in salary cap space. Second will be via auctioning off the top overall selection to the highest bidder.

Top Players Not Included

These players appear in the top 31 of our

Consensus Big Board

, but do not show up in this mock.