The 2023 NFL draft is just days away, and we’re close to learning what the Chicago Bears do with the ninth overall pick.
While there’s been plenty of recent speculation about Chicago looking to trade back for a second time in the first round, general manager Ryan Poles could very well stay put and land his choice of offensive tackle at No. 9.
In Peter King’s first and only mock draft, he has the Bears prioritizing Justin Fields with the selection of Ohio State offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. at ninth overall.
If you’re GM Ryan Poles, you’ve solved a few problems already with offseason acquisitions at receiver (DJ Moore) and linebacker (T.J. Edwards, Tremaine Edmunds) and guard (Nate Davis). This is the next one—the rock at tackle Poles hopes Johnson can be. Johnson’s stock rose this offseason and he should be immediate help for a line that allowed an unacceptable 58 sacks last year.
Johnson previously named the Bears among the three teams that he would like to play for. He would be reunited with Fields, his former Ohio State teammate.
There’s been plenty of buzz that Johnson might not make it to No. 9, as NFL teams are higher on him than many people predicted in their mock drafts. If that’s the case, Poles could very well look to trade back and take a swing on another tackle. Or, he could use that ninth pick to take Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski, Tennessee’s Darnell Wright or Georgia’s Broderick Jones.
