2021 NFL Draft Predictions: What will the Bears do in Round 1?

Just one more night of anticipation before the 2021 NFL Draft is finally here, so we wanted to get your final predictions on what you think the Chicago Bears are going to do on Thursday night.

Right now the Bears are scheduled to pick at 20th overall, but once the players start coming off the board, things have a way of changing. We’ve seen Bears GM Ryan Pace trade up in the first round on a few occasions to ensure he would get the player he has “conviction” in, but he’s yet to move back in the first.

Pace has said everything is on the table, so what do you think he and the Bears will do this year?

Before you guys weigh in with your thoughts down there in the comment section, let’s see what some of our WCG staffers had to say.

Trade

Jeff Berckes: I keep going back and forth but right now I think the Bears make a modest trade-up — let’s say Pick 13 with the Chargers — to get Mac Jones. The 49ers take Trey Lance off the board at Pick 3 and Jones falls out of the top ten.

Jack R Salo: The Bears are likely to trade in Round 1. If there’s a player high on their board, even a non-quarterback, who drops to #10-15 range, the Bears will be calling. Ryan Pace is likely to involve future-years’ picks in the trade, which is sure to draw the ire of fans who are already ready to dance to the tune of his firing. If the draft top-10 goes similar to the Bears top-10 and they don’t have a player worth trading up for, then the Bears trade back to load up on day 3 picks in this years’ draft. I won’t predict a player, because quarterbacks will be overdrafted and throw everything off this year even more than years past. I just don’t see them staying at #20 and feeling like they can maximize potential.

Ken Mitchell: Moderate trade up to draft whichever QB falls to the bottom of the top 10. This is not what I want them to do, but rather what I predict they will do.

Stay at 20

Robert Zeglinski: In typical Ryan Pace era fashion, after releasing Kyle Fuller and creating a need at cornerback, the Bears will draft Northwestern’s Greg Newsome II, rather than addressing quarterback or offensive tackle or any impact position of need on offense. I’m using prior history to validate this theory, of which there’s plenty of evidence to draw from. Pace is nothing if not predictable in this regard.

Create a new need and fill that, instead of focusing on important aspects of the team that have never been fixed.

Aaron Leming: I truly believe that the Bears are going to try like hell to trade up into the Top 10 and take a quarterback. The issue? The bidding doesn’t really start for them until No. 8 with Carolina. No. 4 with Atlanta will be too expensive, I doubt Cincinnati or Miami trades out and ultimately, the Lions are not going to “gift” the Bears No. 7. Especially when it’s for a quarterback. So, with all of that in mind, it still feels like there’s long odds for the Bears to make a trade up happen and we haven’t even talked about cost yet.

In a best case scenario, both Justin Fields and Mac Jones drop. If Fields is gone by No. 8, you give it another four or five picks and see if Jones is still around. All in all, this feels like about as tall of a task as them attempting to trade for Russell Wilson or Deshaun Watson. The odds are against them.

My best guess to what they actually do is go with either an offensive lineman or cornerback. My hope? Teven Jenkins or Christian Darrisaw is sitting there at No. 20.

Josh Sunderbruch: Ryan Pace will do Ryan Pace things, which in this case means filling a hole he created and to patch a mistake he made. Best guess? Thus, he will spend #83 and a future fourth-rounder to trade with Minnesota and move past New England. He will then draft Caleb Farley, who fits the Pace mold of coming pre-injured with a compelling story. All to replace Kyle Fuller because Chicago needed to have Andy Dalton to cover up Nick Foles.

Patti Curl: I think they try to trade up for Justin Fields and get outbid. I think they then wait to bid up for Mac Jones if he falls to the teens and he doesn’t. They then take the top receiver or tackle on their board, who I’m going to guess is Elijah Moore, the slot receiver from Ole Miss with elite separation skills. You never know what’s going on in Ryan’s noggin, but if there’s one media member Pace seems most in line with, it’s Daniel Jeremiah, who was high on both Kevin White and Adam Shaheen. Moore is the 25th player on Jeremiah’s big board and the first receiver after the big three.

Lester A. Wiltfong Jr.: Like many of my colleagues, I think a trade up for a quarterback is Pace’s plan A, but I don’t think they’ll be able to swing a deal with so many other teams potentially looking to do the same thing. I would love to see a trade to the bottom of the first round, but those trade back scenarios are easier said that done. So my ultimate prediction on what Pace will do is... stay at 20 and draft cornerback Caleb Farley from Virginia Tech.

Now it’s your turn, what do you think that Pace and the Bears will do?