If the Bears draft a quarterback next year to replace Justin Fields, an appealing option as they get close to clinching the No. 1 overall pick via the Panthers, that player will be stepping into a more ready-made situation than most rookie quarterbacks selected that high.
It’ll be a lot different than this year, when the Panthers used the No. 1 pick the Bears traded them to take Bryce Young and asked him to find a way to develop amid the rubble of their teardown. When quarterbacks went first, second and third in 2021, the teams taking them had gone a combined 9-39 the season before. Fields went 11th in that draft and landed in the total dysfunction of Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy.
