What hurts the Houston Texans about not having the No. 1 overall pick is they don’t control their own destiny in the 2023 NFL draft. The Texans are at the mercy of what the Chicago Bears do first.
One theory that has been floating around, chiefly due to the morning opinion shows that are as contrived and scripted as pro wrestling, is that the Bears would be open to trading quarterback Justin Fields so they can take their choice of Alabama’s Bryce Young or Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, which would leave the Texans picking the leftovers.
According to Luke Easterling from the Draft Wire, trading Fields is a stultifying proposition, and he details reasons why the former Ohio State signal caller is a playmaker and difference maker at the position. What is more likely is the Bears would trade the No. 1 overall pick to a quarterback-needy team and wait for their intended target as they move back in the first round and pick up more draft capital.
The best part for the Bears? If they make that deal, quarterbacks likely go at each of the first two picks, to the Colts and Texans. That leaves just one other team ahead of them on the board, the Arizona Cardinals, with both of this year’s elite defensive prospects still on the board. If Arizona takes Alabama edge defender Will Anderson, the Bears can happily take Georgia defensive lineman Jalen Carter, or vice versa. The Bears will have moved down, gained more premium draft capital, and still gotten one of the players they would have taken at No. 1 either way.
The last time the No. 1 overall pick was traded was in 2016 when the Los Angeles Rams traded their 2016 first-round, two 2016 second-round, a 2016 third-rounder, and their 2017 first- and third-round picks for the Tennessee Titans’ first-, fourth-, and sixth-round picks in 2016. The Rams used that selection to take quarterback Jared Goff No. 1 overall.
