Even though we think we know where the lean is, the Commanders’ decision at No. 2 is going to depend a lot on what the Bears do with the No. 1 pick – whether it’s a trade because they’re keeping Justin Fields, a trade of Fields to take Williams, or an abject surprise atop the board.
That’s why, on Friday, BMitch and Finlay had Brad Biggs from the Chicago Tribune, a friend of the program who covers the Bears, on to shed a little light on that No. 1 dilemma.
“The Bears are in a really advantageous spot here with the No. 1 pick, the No. 9 pick, and a whole boatload of cap space – not as much as the Commanders, but a lot,” Biggs said. “It puts them in a really unique position, but I expect them to draft a quarterback at No. 1, and they could go in any direction at No. 9, and then try to find a trade partner for Justin Fields.”
But is Williams a lock at No. 1?
“He’s been the presumptive top pick, but there’s still a lot of heavy lifting to be done. The process begins with Williams, but you have to continue to do your research and due diligence,” Biggs said. “We haven’t seen a lot of guys at the post-season All-Star games, so their first chance is next week at the Combine, and you have to fully understand the person. They have a pretty good idea about the player, but you have no idea what makes them tick.”
This is why JP thinks anything definitive at this point is moot, because what happens in Indianapolis could still change a lot of things – because ‘the BS is coming, and it’s gonna be intense.’
“Next week is just the beginning of that process. These are brief meetings to scratch the surface, but you can’t spend more time with players until a Top 30 meeting or their Pro Day,” Biggs said. “There will be hours and hours of meetings, so this is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s an exhaustive process.”
Even in Chicago, opinion is split on whether to keep Fields or not, and whether to trade the pick or not if they do, and you also have to look at contract status (fourth year of rookie deal) and his trajectory.
“Find me a guy that has 38 NFL starts of consistently mediocre play who then just absolutely took off,” Biggs said. “I know more went into that, but that’s a real difficult search.”
We also know what the Bears got from the Panthers last year for No. 1, but Biggs isn’t sure that a second or third-rounder isn’t the ceiling on what you could get for Fields right now, so a lot will go into it – and you can take a listen to Biggs’ entire call above!