What Would a 2021 NFL Draft Re-do Look Like? And Other Bears Bullets

Luis C. Medina Luis C. Medina
Jun 24, 2023
Jun 24, 2023

When things were rough in the early goings of the COVID-fueled pandemic of 2020, the friendships I made with my neighbors did wonders to keep me afloat. They’ve since moved, but we’ve remained friends. Three years later, we’ll celebrate their oldest child’s fourth birthday. It’ll be delightful to see the little one, I’m sure.

  • Are you spending time on a Saturday wondering how a 2021 NFL re-draft would go? Of course not. Because not only are you a well-adjusted species (hey, I’m open to the idea that extraterrestrial beings are reading this!), but there is a decent chance you’re OK with how things went for the Bears on that night. Well, Nick Baumgardner () explores the alternate universe with a re-do of the 2021 NFL Draft. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t have Justin Fields landing in Chicago. Fields goes third overall to the Niners, which is what I thought was going to happen in the first place. Instead, San Fran went with Trey Lance — a QB who might not even be the team’s long-term solution. And yet, the 49ers are in the mix for championship glory every year *DESPITE* their constant fumbling of the quarterback bag in recent years.

  • Seriously … the Niners could still come out of this looking good even though they passed on drafting Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson in 2017, swung a deal for (and paid!) Jimmy Garoppolo, and chose Lance over Fields. All because they got lucky in drafting Mr. Irrelevant? Go figure. Not even Roger Goodell’s most-gifted NFL script-writer could’ve put this together.

  • Circling back, Baumgardner has the Bears taking Alabama offensive lineman Landon Dickerson with the 20th pick. All things being equal, that isn’t a pick that would bug me. Although, it isn’t the type of pick GM Ryan Pace would’ve made at the time. Remember how desperate the Bears were to take🥀 a quarterback? Pace and Head Coach Matt Nagy had to take one last big swing at the position. Given how the chips fell in this re-draft, I think they would’ve taken that swing with Zach Wilson. Yikes. Crisis averted.

  • I think we (as a collective fanbase) would’ve been open to the Bears drafting Wilson. Don’t give me that look. Bears fans support their favorite team’s first-round picks like they were their own children. It is endearing in a way. And I imagine Chicago’s football fans would’ve given him all sorts of public displays of support. It’s just what we do as fans. We’re not actively rooting for failure (until the situation calls for it, but that’s a different story for another time). Instead, we’d have poured into the highlight reel, dug into some tape, and anxiously awaited a Zach Wilson-Andy Dalton training camp battle. That doesn’t sound appealing in 2023. But in 2021, the shiny new thing would’ve been the only thing we cared about.

  • Sheesh! If you think Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus were walking into a mess in January 2022, imagine what it would’ve been looking like if Zach Wilson was quarterbacking. Could you think about how different things would’ve been had the Bears been armed with the No. 1 overall pick and were in a position to draft a quarterback to replace Wilson? Oh, baby!

  • OK, how about a palate cleanser?

  • That’s a W for the Bears social media department.

  • I’m so glad we’re not in the alternate universe where Zach Wilson is reading nice tweets as a member of the Bears. Whew.

  • The replies and quote replies to are inspired:

  • I’m picking Justin Jones (for obvious reasons).

  • Patrick serves up a training camp preview of Tremaine Edmunds’ former team:

    • 32 Teams in 32 Dꦰays: Buffalo Bꦓills Training Camp Preview

  • The Bills look like they’re in a position where they’ll challenge for an AFC title and maybe even make the Super Bowl. I’m sure Tremaine Edmunds would’ve been a key cog in that machine had he stuck around in Buffalo. Instead, Edmunds is fully embracing underdog status in Chicago.

  • Mark your calendars for July 20, which is the date the NFL will meet to finalize the Washington Commanders sale. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport has more:

  • As a reminder, the Bears play at the Commanders in Week 5 on Thursday Night Football. Get your popcorn ready. (P.S. Here’s the rest of Chicago’s schedule, just in case you have an interest in following up.)

  • On the college football front, here is a reminder that actions have consequences:

  • Les Miles had some baller LSU teams. And while I think vacating wins is pure silliness (you really can’t un-do a win, no matter how hard you try with this), but how can you not chuckle at this development?

  • MLB’s London Series is here! And the Cubs are ready to have an international affair with the Cardinals. Brett covers that (and more) in today’s BN Cubs Bullets.

  • Chicago Bulls lead exec Artūras Karnišovas says he has the green light to spend into the luxury tax. That sounds good. But I’ll echo Eli’s sentiments in saying: “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

  • At BN Blackhawks, Tab’s look around the NHL includes a peek at the Boston Bruins’ attempt to thread the needle. In short, Boston is trying to sell selling now with the intent to buy later. Bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off…

    • written by

    Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starꦫting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago ♒Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.

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