We will state up front that the Chicago Bears made the correct choice when they decided in March of last year to trade D.J. Moore to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draught, first-round picks in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
The Bears granted quarterback Justin Fields a third season to demonstrate to fans that he is the team’s long-term quarterback, and they also provided him a major wide receiver in Moore, whom Fields had not had in his first two seasons.
In addition, the trade awarded Bears general manager Ryan Poles two first-round selections in the 2024 draught, which was widely anticipated to have a quarterback class highlighted by Caleb Williams of USC and Drake Maye of North Carolina, rather than the trio of Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, and Anthony Richardson from the previous year.
The Bears appear to be on track to select either Williams or Maye in the first round in the 2024 NFL Draught halfway through the season, but it also appears that they overlooked evaluating one of the quarterbacks in the 2023 draught class.
On Sunday, Stroud and the Houston Texas team stunned the Cincinnati Bengals, displaying once again his exceptional play. Stroud scrambled for a touchdown in addition to passing for 356 yards and a touchdown. Stroud’s performance on Sunday was an improvement over his performance the week before, in which he passed for five touchdowns and 470 yards.
The Chicago Bears seem to be missing out on yet another quarterback to add to their roster of quarterbacks.
Stroud has completed 2,626 passing yards this season with 15 passing touchdowns against just 2 interceptions.
To start with, Bears supporters need to be appreciative of the Panthers for selecting the incorrect player. It’s likely that the Bears would not have been able to select their next quarterback in this year’s round if the Panthers had selected Stroud.
However, that ought to be a worry as well. No, since Stroud was not on the board when the Bears made their 10th overall decision, they did not officially pass on him. However, Poles stated in other remarks made during the off-season that he would have needed to be completely convinced to select a quarterback with the first overall pick in 2023. It’s safe to assume that they underestimated Stroud, which could cause them to second-guess Maye or Williams this off-season.
