Chicago Bears: Big Draft Move Could Affect Poles’ Plans

Reports of a bombshell move early in the 2023 NFL Draft may affect who is available for the Chicago Bears in the first round.

We are just one day from the start of the 2023 NFL Draft. Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles is finalizing his plans for the draft. He has a number of different scenarios to go through.

While Poles likely has a great many situations in mind, there might be another one he has to think about. The Houston Texans, who have the second overall pick in the draft, were always linked to a quarterback, either Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud. Nearly every mock draft has them taking one of them.

There are recent reports, however, claiming that perhaps they might not go after a quarterback after all. They might choose to go with a defender and perhaps go with a quarterback later in the first round (they also have the 12th pick) or wait until next year. They might decide to stick with Davis Mills for the time being.

That move could reign chaos early in the draft. If the Texans refrain from taking a quarterback, it could affect the Bears’ plans. Whoever Houston picks could be someone that Poles might want. Furthermore, it could impact other teams’ plans. By the time the Bears are on the clock at nine, several of their prospects could be taken.

The best-case scenario would be having the Texans, and/or the Arizona Cardinals trade their picks to quarterback-needy teams. That means there could be a run on quarterbacks, thus having most, if not all, of their prospects available at nine. The Indianapolis Colts at four also need a quarterback.

That leaves the teams at five through eight, the Seattle Seahawks, the Detroit Lions, the Las Vegas Raiders, and the Atlanta Falcons, all teams that don’t have a pressing need for a quarterback.

At any rate, Poles and the Chicago Bears have a ton of options at nine. If there is not a run on quarterbacks, Chicago could be in a good position to trade. Some teams might find it cheaper for them at nine rather than moving up to the top five.

In addition to the possible prospects available there, Poles might trade the pick, move down, pick up more draft picks, and still get the prospect he wanted.

Assistant general manager Ian Cunningham recently spoke with reporters. One of the things he said is that there are a number of prospects (six to eight) they have in mind with their first-round plans. He also said that a few of them might be players not considered top-ten prospects. That could signal a chance that Poles is open to playing Let’s Make A Deal with other teams.

Remember, Poles did that a lot in last year’s draft. He came in with just five draft picks and ended up with 11. A lot of those picks were in the bottom portion of the draft. This year, he has six picks in the first four rounds alone. He has plenty of assets to use to acquire more picks, both this year and in future drafts.

One thing for sure is that Poles has given Chicago Bears Nation a lot of hope and excitement this offseason. Aside from picking Justin Fields in 2021, there has not been much excitement in recent drafts. In fact, the Fields pick was the Bears’ only first-round pick in the past four drafts.

The future looks bright for the Chicago Bears. In those same four drafts, they had eight picks in the first three rounds. For the drafts from 2023 through 2026, they’ll have 12 picks in the first three rounds.

This year, we might be seeing the start of a new era of winning football in Chicago.