Chicago Bears make huge trade in latest 7-round 2023 NFL Mock Draft

With the Chicago Bears losing on Sunday and the Denver Broncos winning, the Bears have moved up the 2023 NFL draft order to second overall. That means it’s time for another mock draft with an intriguing trade option.

The Houston Texans own the top pick in the 2023 draft and are expected to get their quarterback of the future, likely Bryce Young (Alabama). But what if they want a generational EDGE rusher like Will Anderson Jr., too?

In this scenario, the Texans trade the 13th overall pick, a second and third-rounder, and next year’s first and third-round picks to the Bears for the No. 2 overall.

A tad far-fetched? Maybe. But the Texans would come out of this draft with two blue-chip prospects at the game’s most important positions and still have seven picks this year, plus the Cleveland Browns’ first-round pick next year.

What would the Bears do with this bounty of draft selections? Let’s get into it.

First Round: Paris Johnson Jr. – Offensive Tackle, Ohio State

Despite his size (6’ 6”, 315 lbs), he is a freakish athlete with long arms and great technique. Johnson would be an immediate upgrade for a Bears’ offensive line, arguably the worst pass protection unit in the NFL.

Second Round: Tyree Wilson – EDGE, Texas Tech

A lot of uncertainty clouds Wilson’s draft projection. He’s got the talent and athleticism to be a Top 15 pick, but a season-ending injury suffered a month ago will hurt his stock. If he falls this far, he will greatly add to an underwhelming pass-rush unit.

Second Round: Drew Sanders – OLB/EDGE, Arkansas

Sanders has seen a meteoric rise in draft rankings this year, with some even projecting him into the first round. Racking up 9.5 sacks, five pass deflections, three forced fumbles, and over 100 tackles will do that. He’d bring more fire and production to a Bears’ front seven in desperate need of both. Nabbing him late in the second round would be a steal.

(Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Third Round: Rashee Rice – Wide Receiver, SMU

Quietly one of my favorite receivers in this draft. Rice is 6’ 2” and 203 lbs, but he’s more than just a big dude. He possesses a fantastic sense of timing on his routes and elevating for jump balls, high pointing the ball easily. His catch technique is just about flawless, and he’s a yards-after-the-catch monster.

Bears fans have watched multiple would-be game-winning drives end when a receiver drops a perfectly thrown ball by Fields. Adding Rice to the roster would solve this problem.

Third Round: Cody Mauch – Offensive Tackle, NDSU

Mauch is starting to get some hype on social media, so he may go earlier than currently projected, but for this simulation, I got him in the third round. A mauler with incredible power, athleticism, and an amazing head of hair, he’s everything you want on your offensive line. He played left tackle in college, but I would kick him inside to left guard as a potential replacement for Cody Whitehair.

Fourth Round: Zacch Pickens – Defensive Tackle, South Carolina

Yes, it’s spelled with two C’s, I checked. Pickens has 6.5 sacks from the interior over the last two seasons, and four passes batted down, and he seems to have all the tools of a dominant interior pass rusher, exactly what the Bears need. However, he doesn’t always seem to be going at full speed and lacks elite power. It would require good coaching to get Pickens to reach his full potential, but I believe that Matt Eberflus is exactly the guy for the job.

Fifth Round: Tyler Davis – Defensive Tackle, Clemson

Staying with the interior defensive line, Tyler Davis has a fantastic build for his position: compact, dense, and strong. His motor runs hot, and he shows decent speed for a guy his size. He’s not great in lateral pursuit of a ball carrier, but his straight-line rush is impressive. Davis would be an absolute steal in the fifth round.

Fifth Round: Henry To’oTo’o – Linebacker, Alabama

To’oTo’o is another freak athlete but is a bit undersized for a linebacker. He’s good at just about everything but great at nothing. He’d provide solid depth for a depleted linebacker corps.

Sixth Round: Ricky Stromberg – Center, Arkansas

Another ill-tempered offensive lineman for the Bears here. Stromberg has good size for a Center and a nasty attitude, routinely finishing blocks with pancaked defenders. Putting him between renowned maulers Teven Jenkins and potentially Cody Mauch would create the meanest interior offensive line in the NFL. Don’t expect any cheap shots to Justin Fields.

Sixth Round: Tyson Bagent – Quarterback, Shepherd

Here’s a curveball for you. With all due respect to Trevor Siemian and Nathan Peterman, the Bears need a backup quarterback whose traits are similar to Fields’.

Enter Bagent. A mobile, shifty quarterback with a cannon for an arm and the winner of the Harlon Hill Trophy in 2021. He comes from a Division II program, so there are the inevitable ‘small school’ concerns. But the Bears aren’t drafting him to replace Fields, play like a poor man’s Fields in a pinch, and I think he can do that. With eleven picks in this draft, I feel comfortable spending a late sixth on Bagent.

Seventh Round: Zack Kuntz – Tight End, Old Dominion

Spoiler alert: Kuntz will probably be the last pick of just about every mock draft I make. He’s arguably the freakiest of freak athletes going into the draft, standing at 6’ 8” and 251 lbs, but he can run a 4.57 40-yard dash and boasts a 40” vertical. Don’t expect him to block, but the Bears could use him as a mammoth red-zone target.

Late Day 3 picks are best spent on players with the highest imaginable upside, and I can’t think of anyone with a higher ceiling than Kuntz.