Bears 2023 Draft Recap

Bears
Written By Connor Sullivan

We continue to look at whether the Chicago Bears accomplished their most important goals following their 3-14 2022 season. Today we look at building their draft capital. The Bears proved through their 2022 season that their roster needed significant improvements. With limited draft picks Ryan Poles had his work cut out for him.. This blog post explores the Bears' draft day decisions, trades made, players selected, and their overall success in accomplishing their goals.

How many picks did Bears have before offseason:

Before the 2023 Offseason, the Chicago Bears came in with 6 total draft picks. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th + one compensatory for Ryan Pace hiring by Atlanta. They traded their 2nd round pick for Steelers WR Chase Claypool in Week 9.

Needing more draft capital, Ryan Poles traded Roquan Smith to the Ravens for 2nd and 5th round picks, and Robert Quinn to the Eagles for a 4th round pick during the middle of the season. 

That’s when fortune really smiled upon the Bears, because they secured the coveted #1 pick in a draft loaded with talented quarterbacks and teams desperately seeking their next leader.  As we discussed in the last post, the Bears have their franchise QB so they were able to consider trading the pick to improve their roster. (Despite a few uninformed people suggesting they trade Justin Fields and draft Bryce Young.). Ryan Poles did not pass on that opportunity. The Bears made the most significant trades of any team during that draft.

 

Bears Traded

Bears Received

No. 1 Overall Pick to Carolina

No. 9 Overall Pick, 2nd round in 2023 (No. 61), 1st round in 2024, 2nd round in 2025, WR DJ Moore

No. 9 Overall Pick to Philadelphia

No. 10 Overall Pick, 4th round in 2023

 

After all of Poles’ moves, the Bears went from 6 draft picks to 10 draft picks + DJ Moore and Chase Claypool. Based on experts’ reactions (and my opinion) they hit on at least 8 including three standouts:

 

Darnell Wright (OL Tennesee) - Rd 1 # 10

Tyrique Stevenson (DB Miami) - Rd 2 # 56

Roschon Johnson (RB Texas) - Rd 4 # 115

 

Did the Bears accomplish the goal of building and using draft picks?  Absolutely yes. They built depth and provided needed help for Fields on the OL, at RB and with established #1 (Moore) and #2/3 (Claypool) WRs. They continued to add future draft capital through the Panthers trade by adding an additional 2024 first rounder and a 2025 second rounder.

While this offseason was a great boost to an extensive rebuild, there are still numerous glaring holes on the Chicago Bears roster that are sure to be filled through the next couple of years.

Connor Sullivan