2021 NFL mock draft: Justin Fields heads to Jaguars

The Bears will move on from Mitch Trubisky after a 2020 season in which veteran Nick Foles takes over the starting job. While that makes the team more competitive, it is clear the team needs a new long-term solution at the quarterback possession.

Unfortunately, there is no signal-caller that makes sense here (though they do consider Trey Lance), so the decide to defer that decision until later in the draft and take the top player on their board – linebacker Micah Parsons.

Like Moses, Parsons fits the mold of the new hybrid linebacker that the NFL is shifting towards. While Moses is a bit better in pass coverage, Parsons is bigger and stronger to take on NFL blockers. Parsons joins an already stout Bears defense to help the team right the ship as it waits on its new quarterback to get ready.

Like the Bears, the inclination here for the Patriots will be to go for their next franchise quarterback. Cam Newton fails to play the full season, proving he’s just too injury prone to be a franchise quarterback any longer. This means that New England is once again left with Jarrett Stidham or someone new.

But, it does not fit Bill Belichick’s style to take a quarterback in the first round, and he is not going to change that approach in 2021. Instead, what makes more sense is for him to return where he’s comfortable, building in the trenches. After stealing K’Lavon Chaisson with the 23rd pick in 2020, the Patriots select Alabama defensive tackle Christian Barmore here to pair next to him, to shore up the defensive line and cement it as the foundation of the team for years to come.

Barmore is massive defender at 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds. He could have been a first-round pick in 2020, but was not eligible to enter. He’ll be a great cog in the middle of the defense in New England for years to come.