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Bears Mock Draft Scenario: Justin Fields reunites with a Buckeye WR

In the first of a hypothetical pre-draft series, members of the WCG staff give Justin Fields an old friend to throw to.

Indiana v Ohio State Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

I know, I know, you’re all tired of mock drafts by this point. You, simply, want to see the Bears add Good Players this weekend. That’s a reasonable ask.

But what if we put a trademark WCG spin on the proceedings? What if we put down strict parameters on something the Bears have to accomplish during the 2022 NFL Draft? Okay, I know that’s not a new concept either. Still — give us a chance!

Members of the WCG staff have fired up their mock draft machines and formulated some separate scenarios the Bears could follow this coming weekend.

Let’s peruse the roundtable for Part 1.


Scenario 1: You must get one of the two Ohio State WRs — Chris Olave or Garrett Wilson — for Justin Fields in the first round.

Ohio State v Penn State Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

Patti Curl

Trade:

  1. Bears receive No. 16 overall
  2. Saints receive No. 39, No. 71, and Chicago’s 2023 third-round pick
  • No. 16. Chris Olave, WR — Ohio State

Trade:

  1. Bears receive No. 90, No. 131, No. 169, and Titans’ 2023 second-round pick
  2. Titans receive No. 48

Trade:

  1. Bears receive No. 60, Buccaneers’ 2023 fourth and fifth-round picks
  2. Buccaneers receive No. 131 and Titans’ 2023 second-round pick
  • No. 60. Greg Dulcich, TE — UCLA

Trade:

  1. Bears receive No. 105 and 49ers’ 2023 third-round pick.
  2. 49ers receive No. 90 and Buccaneers’ 2023 fourth and fifth-round picks
  • No. 105 Luke Fortner, C — Kentucky
  • No. 148, Danny Gray, WR — SMU
  • No. 150, Akayleb Evans, CB — Missouri
  • No. 169, Dare Rosenthal, OT — Kentucky
  • No. 186, Smoke Monday, S — Auburn

Notes: The net result of the 2023 pick swaps is the Bears have the 49ers’ 2023 third-round pick instead of their own. Considering the Bears are Super Bowl-bound, this can only be an upgrade. I’m high on Dulcich because I think he’s the only real deep-threat tight end in this class and I thought he was the best value receiver to add to Olave-Mooney-Pringle available at the time. Fortner is someone NFL Network scout Daniel Jeremiah described as a smart tough center who will play in the year for 10-plus years. Dare Rosenthal is a raw “traitsy” tackle. Meanwhile, if the Bears can convince their new safety that he has to win Sunday before he can Smoke Monday, they should get some quality play from a sixth-round pick.

Erik Duerrwaechter

Trade:

  1. Bears receive No. 19 overall
  2. Saints receive No. 39 and No. 48, and a 2023 third-rounder
  • No. 19. Chris Olave WR — Ohio State

Trade:

  1. Bears receive No. 79 and No. 195
  2. Chargers receive No. 71

Trade:

  1. Bears receive No. 89, No. 130, and a 2023 seventh-rounder
  2. Bills receive No. 79 and a Chicago seventh-rounder
  • No. 89. Cole Strange, OG — Chattanooga
  • No. 130. Dominique Robinson, EDGE — Miami-Ohio
  • No. 148. Alontae Taylor, CB — Tennessee
  • No. 150. Chigoziem Okonkwo, TE — Maryland
  • No. 186. Zamir White, RB — Georgia
  • No. 195. Danny Gray, WR — SMU

Notes: In summary, it was costly to acquire the ability to draft Chris Olave — who was normally the receiver made available later on average. This was after several previous attempts on the PFN Mock Draft Simulator. (I could never land Garrett Wilson without a complete sacrifice of the draft in 2022.) In this haul, I got Justin Fields’ guy, then traded down multiple times to stock up on picks to build around my quarterback even further. Cole Strange is someone I loved. Dominique Robinson, a quality weapon to add to the rotation at defensive end, was the best player on my board. Alontae Taylor will add some much-needed competition at corner. Starting and ending my draft with talented receivers felt necessary, and seeing Danny Gray fall as far as he did was an easy late-round gem.

Ken Mitchell

I made a horrendous trade to meet the scenario, one I would never do in real life and I hope and pray GM Ryan Poles would never make it either. Still, I did what I had to do to get one of the Ohio State stud wideouts.

Using PFF’s mock draft simulator, I did the following:

I traded Chicago’s No. 39 pick, No. 71 pick, plus their 2023 second-round pick with the Saints to move up to No. 16 to take Chris Olave — the last of the two Ohio State wideouts on the board.

The rest of my draft is as follows:

Lucas is a big dude. He’s an interesting prospect who needs to work on some things and isn’t ready to step in right now. Still, he’s got the potential to play both outside and inside.

  • No. 148 Tycen Anderson, S — Toledo

An “in the box” violent tackler with good height, speed (4.36 40), and enough versatility to play in a man or zone scheme.

  • No. 150. Joshua Williams, CB — Fayetteville State

I know, some of you out there are thinking “Wait, Fayetteville State has a football team?” Yes, they do, and they have a very good corner. 6-foot-3, 195 pounds, 4.46 speed, fluid hips. Williams is hurt by coming from a Division II school but his physical attributes are good and this is a fifth-round guy.

  • No. 186. Josh Johnson, WR — Tulsa

Johnson is a crisp route runner, not particularly fast, and he needs to work on his catching technique. But his route running is very, very good and we are talking about a sixth-rounder.

Indiana v Ohio State Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images

Josh Sunderbruch

No. 18. Chris Olave, WR — Ohio State | Drafted by Philadelphia Eagles

No. 39. Tyler Smith, T — Tulsa

Trade:

  1. Bears receive No. 58 and No. 82
  2. Falcons receive No. 48, No. 186, and Nick Foles

Trade:

  1. Bears receive No. 58, Eagles’ 2023 first-round pick, and X 2023 first-rounder;
  2. Eagles receive Justin Fields
  • No. 51. Abraham Lucas, T — Washington State
  • No. 58. Nik Bonitto, EDGE — Oklahoma
  • No. 71. Dylan Parham, IOL — Memphis
  • No. 82. Carson Strong, QB — Nevada
  • No. 148. Danny Gray, WR — SMU
  • No. 150. J. Woods, S — Baylor

Chicago enters 2023 with three first-round picks (Chicago, Philadelphia, and New Orleans). I got Justin Fields one of the two Ohio State wide receivers (Chris Olave) — just in Philadelphia.