4 Justin Fields replacements Bears could still draft if they trade down

If the Chicago Bears trade down from No. 1 this year, they are stupid. It was odd to see them do it last year by going down to No. 9 in a deal with the Carolina Panthers. Well, the Panthers were terrible last season. They went 2-15 with Bryce Young as their quarterback and a far beyond cooked Frank Reich was fired after 11 games as their head coach. While it worked out for Chicago last year, don't be silly.

The Bears need to do what is logical, which is to stay at No. 1, draft Caleb Williams out of USC and trade Justin Fields to another franchise. This is because everybody not named McCaskey will be fired by the Bears owners if Williams were to succeed in playing outside of Chicagoland as a professional. Although he does have bust potential, the upside is too great to realistically pass on this time around.

But you also have to remember what the Bears are at their core: Absolutely horrific when it comes to identifying and developing quarterback talent. This is the same franchise that traded up from No. 3 to No. 2 to draft Mitchell Trubisky out of North Carolina when Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes were still on the board. Should the Bears do the unthinkable, they still have some intriguing options.

Assuming Fields or Williams are not starting for them next year, how about one of these four rookies?

4. LSU Tigers quarterback Jayden Daniels

For my money, if the Bears really love them some Jayden Daniels, just take him No. 1 overall and deal with the PR fallout afterward. While I cannot put him QB1 for upside reasons in this draft, he is my favorite quarterback of the six who could potentially go in the first round. He got better every season he played in college. He just won the Heisman Trophy. His dual-threat abilities make him a must-have.

But in this exercise, the Bears are not picking first, and they are no longer employing Fields. While there is a chance that Caleb Williams could be there at No. 2 if they were to swap with the Washington Commanders or something, don't put yourself in that situation, Bears. To me, so many dominoes have to fall in a certain direction for Daniels to end up with the Bears, even if they only move back to No. 3.

Even then, you have to hope that the Commanders really love them some Drake Maye picking second, as well as assuming increasingly dysfunctional New England will treat Williams like Drew Bledsoe was coming out of Washington State years ago. Daniel was a fantastic college football player, and may be a fantastic pro quarterback as well. However, it is hard to see him with Chicago.

Daniels is this year's C.J. Stroud, a great college quarterback who will absolutely be going top-three.