Lynnell was in for the Rooster on Friday, and if you happened to see him on TV this week, you’d know h advocated for the idea of maybe taking a QB, or adding a QB, but letting them compete with Sam Howell?
Yeah, that’s Nell’s stance, but whatever the Commanders do at No. 2 is going to be influenced by the Bears’ monumental decision at No. 1 – and as he did for BMitch & Finlay on 106.7 The Fan earlier Friday, the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs laid it out for Nell.
“I believe they're gonna use the first pick in the draft on a quarterback, I think that process starts with Caleb Williams, and that process is really just cranking up,” Biggs said. “They’ll meet face-to-face with him for the first time next week at the Combine, but they’ll also do their due diligence on everyone. They can’t leave a single stone unturned with any of these quarterback prospects that you'd consider near the top of the draft, and at some point, they've got to begin probably exploring trade possibilities involving Justin Fields.”
The Bears pick first and then again at No. 9, so they have a lot of leverage in a lot of ways, especially with the Fields situation – theoretically, they could take their QB of the future at No. 1 and let him sit, and still get an impact player at No. 9.
And, as Biggs noted, it’s early in the process and the top prospects didn’t participate in post-season events, so the person behind the tape is still an unknown – and that could, and surely will, change some things as everyone gets to know each other in less of a ‘speed dating’ situation.
So why, then, is it different this year than last, when the Bears gave up the No. 1 pick for an admittedly huge haul when they could’ve had Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud last year?
“You’ve had Justin Fields for a full year for this regime that inherited him, and they gave it a go this past season and made some moves to put him in an opportunity to have more success,” Biggs said. “He was better than he was in 2022, but in a passing league, the Bears aren't where you need to be to be competitive. Teams that are perennially in the playoffs all have elite quarterbacks; they made the move they made last year because they felt good about it, and they had no way of knowing the Panthers would be as abysmal as they were and it would turn into the top pick in the draft, but here they are again, and they have an opportunity to go out and get their own guy.”
Biggs also got into why Fields hasn’t found success in Chicago in the first three seasons, what it may be like if Caleb Williams pulls an Eli Manning and refuses to play there, and more, so take a listen to it all above!