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It has been an arduous offseason for us Chicago Bears fans as we endured yet another disappointing end to the previous season, but the NFL Draft is finally upon us, and that means it’s a time for renewed hope.
Will the Bears make a move that could drastically alter their 2021 trajectory in the next few days?
Probably not.
But you never can tell.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2021 NFL Draft.
Start times
- Round 1: Thursday, April 29 (7:00 p.m. CT)
- Rounds 2-3: Friday, April 30 (6:00 p.m. CT)
- Rounds 4-7: Saturday, May 1 (11:00 a.m. CT)
- UDFA Free For All: Saturday, May 1 (As soon as Mr. Irrelevant is announced!)
How to watch/listen
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Television coverage: The 2021 NFL Draft will be televised nationally by NFL Network, ABC, ESPN and ESPN Deportes.
Radio coverage: National coverage on Westwood One Radio, SiriusXM NFL Radio and ESPN Radio.
Internet stream: FuboTV (Sign up for a free trial now!), NFL.com, ESPN.com
Mobile: Live NFL Network coverage of the 2021 NFL Draft is available across devices (smartphone, PC, tablet and connected TVs) through the NFL app or NFL.com/watch for subscribers of participating NFL Network providers. For more information, go to NFL.com/nflnetwork.
Selection time limits
- Day 1: Round 1 (10 minutes per pick)
- Day 2: Round 2 (seven minutes per pick) • Round 3 (five minutes per pick)
- Day 3: Rounds 4-6 (five minutes per pick) • Round 7 (four minutes per pick)
Bears current NFL Draft picks (eight picks)
- Round 1: No. 20 overall - If each of the first 19 selections take the allotted 10 minutes to decide, that means the Bears won’t go on the clock until after 10:10 p.m. CT. But to be on the safe side start watching around 9:00. The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain said that the 20th pick had been made around 9:20ish in years past, with the 4th overall selection coming around 7:45.
- Round 2: No. 52 - If each of the teams before the Bears take their full 7 minutes, that means the Bears will go on the clock about 8:13 p.m. CT.
- Round 3: No. 83
- Round 5: No. 164
- Round 6: No. 204
- Round 6: No. 208
- Round 6: No. 221
- Round 6: No. 22
First round NFL Draft order (for now)
3. San Francisco 49ers (from HOU via MIA)
6. Miami Dolphins (from PHI)
10. Dallas Cowboys
11. New York Giants
12. Philadelphia Eagles (from SF via MIA)
18. Miami Dolphins
20. Chicago Bears
22. Tennessee Titans
23. New York Jets (from SEA)
25. Jacksonville Jaguars (from LAR)
26. Cleveland Browns
27. Baltimore Ravens
30. Buffalo Bills
31. Baltimore Ravens (from KC)
Total picks: 259 total selections
Prospects attending the draft in person
Christian Barmore, Alabama / Gregory Rousseau, Miami (Fla.) / Ja’Marr Chase, LSU / Rashawn Slater, Northwestern / Devonta Smith, Alabama / Mac Jones, Alabama / Patrick Surtain II, Alabama / Trey Lance, North Dakota State / Jaylen Waddle, Alabama / Micah Parsons, Penn State / Zach Wilson, BYU / Kyle Pitts, Florida
Prospects attending the draft virtually
Carlos Basham, Wake Forest / Jalen Mayfield, Michigan / Rashod Bateman, Minnesota / Quinn Meinerz, Wisconsin-Whitewater / Nick Bolton, Missouri / Trevon Moehrig, TCU / Tyson Campbell, Georgia / Elijah Moore, Mississippi / Andre Cisco, Syracuse / Rondale Moore, Purdue / Samuel Cosmi, Texas / Dylan Moses, Alabama / Jabril Cox, LSU / Greg Newsome, Northwestern / Christian Darrisaw, Virginia Tech / Azeez Ojulari, Georgia / Jamin Davis, Kentucky / Joseph Ossai, Texas / Wyatt Davis, Ohio State / Jayson Oweh, Penn State / Landon Dickerson, Alabama / Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, Notre Dame / Travis Etienne, Clemson / Kwity Paye, Michigan / Justin Fields, Ohio State / Ronnie Perkins, Oklahoma / Pat Freiermuth, Penn State / Jaelan Phillips, Miami (Fla.) / Najee Harris, Alabama / Penei Sewell, Oregon / Jevon Holland, Oregon / Trey Smith, Tennessee / Jaycee Horn, South Carolina / Amon-Ra St. Brown, USC / Creed Humphrey, Oklahoma / Chazz Surratt, North Carolina / Brevin Jordan, Miami (Fla.) / Kadarius Toney, Florida / Trevor Lawrence, Clemson / Tommy Tremble, Notre Dame / Alex Leatherwood, Alabama / Jay Tufele, USC / Hunter Long, Boston College / Alijah Vera-Tucker, USC / Terrace Marshall, LSU
Caleb Farley from Virginia Tech was scheduled to be in person at the draft but an illness will prevent him from attending.
I spy several names in the above two lists that could be in play for the Bears on the first couple days. It would be interesting to see the Bears pick get an on air interview either from Cleveland or virtually.
WCG Podcast Channel
Make sure you subscribe to the Windy City Gridiron Podcast Channel to stay on top of all our audio coverage of this year’s draft and so much more.
Windy City Gridiron Podcast Channel which includes Bear With Me from Robert Schmitz, Bears Over Beers featuring Jeff Berckes & EJ Snyder, Bears Banter hosted by Bill Zimmerman, Rule of 3 with R. Schmitz, Danny Meehan, and Brandon Robinson, and the occasional T Formation Conversation from Lester A. Wiltfong Jr.; EJ also co-hosts The Bootleg Football Podcast with Brett Kollmann; R. Schmitz has a film breakdown show on YouTube titled Run Pass Opinion; Will Robinson II has his WhiskeyRanger YouTube channel, and Steven’s Streaming Twitch Channel from Steven Schweickert.
Follow WCG on Social Media
WCG Facebook Page: Click here to like our page
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Click on our names to follow us on Twitter: Jeff Berckes; Patti Curl; Eric Christopher Duerrwaechter; Kev H; Sam Householder; Jacob Infante; Aaron Lemming; Ken Mitchell; Jack R Salo; Steven Schweickert; Jack Silverstein; EJ Snyder; Lester Wiltfong, Jr.; Whiskey Ranger; Robert Schmitz; Robert Zeglinski; Bill Zimmerman;