The Chicago Bears will have the no.1 pick of the 2023 NFL draft, thanks to the Houston Texans winning two of their last three games of the season.
Currently, the Bears are predicted to have well over $100 million dollars in cap space for 2023 as well. Which means general manager Ryan Poles is going to have a busy offseason with the draft and free agency.
At this point Poles best option draft wise is to trade down and add more picks for 2023 and 2024. There is no clear-cut option at no.1 and regardless of what happens in free agency, the Bears have a number of key positions to fill.
Yet even before Poles concerns himself with the draft, with all that cap space, his number one priority is to monitor what the Las Vegas Raiders do with running back Josh Jacobs.
If the Bears do end up keeping the no.1 pick, with Justin Fields as the franchise quarterback, the obvious selection here is University of Alabama outside linebacker, Will Anderson Jr. He finished 2022 with 51 tackles with 17 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, an interception returned for a touchdown, and a pass defended.
His sophmore year was his best season with Alabama. Anderson recorded 101 tackles with 31 for loss, 17.5 sacks, and three passes defended. He definitely immediately improves the Bears pass rush that registered 20 sacks in 2022.
If the Bears elect to trade down, then taking offensive tackle Peter Skoronski out of Northwestern makes the most sense. Especially when Fields himself got sacked 55 times.