2017 NFL Draft: Chicago Bears final grade

The Chicago Bears shocked the NFL world by trading up a spot to draft Mitchell Trubisky at No. 2. Here is the Bears’ 2017 NFL Draft grade.

When people talk about the 2017 NFL Draft many years from now, the Chicago Bears will be one of those teams that arm chair general managers would love to pick apart with scathing hindsight. Chicago ended making only five selections in this draft. The only pick that originally belonged to them was the No. 147 pick they made in the fifth round.

Chicago had the No. 3 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. Rather than wait, the Bears traded four picks to move up a spot to draft North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Mitchell Trubisky at No. 2 overall. That pick shocked the NFL world, as the team the Bears traded with were probably going to take Stanford Cardinal defensive end Solomon Thomas at No. 2 anyway.

The Bears gave up the No. 3, the No. 67, the No. 113 and their third-round pick next year to get Trubisky. Oh, the price to pay to get maybe a franchise quarterback. Chicago would also trade multiple picks with the Arizona Cardinals to essentially move back in round two.

Here is a look at what on Planet Earth the Bears did to earn their 2017 NFL Draft day grade.

First Round

2

Mitchell Trubisky

Quarterback, North Carolina Tar Heels

Trading up to grab Trubisky at No. 2 was almost comical. He was going to be there at No. 3, unless the 49ers were going to make a trade with the Cleveland Browns so Cleveland could take the Ohio native to be their next franchise quarterback.

This impulsive draft-day decision reeked of a mishandled panic move by the Bears organization. Head coach John Fox was not consulted until merely hours before the draft about the Bears’ decision to trade up to draft Trubisky at No. 2. Keep in mind that Fox is a defensive-minded coach and very much on the hot seat in 2017.

This feels so much like either an ownership move or one done in recklessness by general manager Ryan Pace. Didn’t Chicago just make former Tampa Bay Buccaneers backup Mike Glennon a multimillionaire? Yes, the Bears did. Now it looks like Glennon will be paid handsomely to mentor some handsome kid from Mentor. Da Bears…

There is one caveat to this questionable first round pick: what if Trubisky is the guy under center for the Bears for the next decade plus? He may have only been a one-year starter at North Carolina, but he was insanely accurate, threw the ball down the field, rarely threw picks and has the build of a franchise quarterback. The story of the Bears’ 2017 NFL Draft rides solely on his shoulders.