Draft Nightmare: Brock Bowers at #9

Let me preface this with a few statements. First of all, I love Brock Bowers as a player. He shows flashes of George Kittle after the catch. I can say confidently that he will be a monster tight end at the next level if any team (other than Pittsburgh, s/o Arthur Smith for landing an OC job) takes him. Furthermore, if Odunze and Nabers are both off the board at this point, I have little hesitation with declaring Brock as the best offensive weapon available.

But here's the problem. If Brock Bowers is available at 9, the odds of a similar caliber of prospect at a position of greater need also being available are astronomically high. For reference, assuming Chicago takes a quarterback at #1 and trades Fields, the ONLY possible outcome of the subsequent picks leading up to their next selection in which I could potentially consider Bowers to be the most valuable asset that the Bears could acquire with that pick (not including a trade-back) is as follows:

1. Caleb Williams to CHI

2. Marvin Harrison Jr. to WAS

3. Joe Alt to NE

4. Malik Nabers to ARI

5. Olu Fashanu to LAC

6. Dallas Turner to NYG

7. Rome Odunze to TEN

8. Jared Verse to ATL

Even then, it's a toss-up for me between him, one of the top tackles and Nate Wiggins or Quinyon Mitchell for me. I would almost consider a guy like Laiatu Latu, Byron Murphy or Jer'Zhan Newton here if I valued DL talent highly (which I do). This also doesn't take into account the trade value of the pick, which could be unbelievably high for QB-needy teams looking to secure their future at the position with the sliding Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels.

If you couldn't already tell, the absurdity of this scenario is a bit beyond realistic, as four of the seven teams picking in this range outside of Chicago would not hesitate to pick Maye (who would've almost certainly been a lock for #1 overall in either of the last 2 drafts) if he happened to fall to them, and at least three of those teams would highly consider taking (if they hadn't already traded up for) Jayden Daniels if he was available.

So, assuming all three of the top QBs go in the top 8 picks, there is guaranteed to be a player of (in my opinion) equal or greater caliber at a position of greater value or need (or both) available at 9. Not only this, but new OC Shane Waldron is notorious for heavily favoring 3+ WR sets over multiple-TE sets (not a knock on him, just an observation), and the Bears gave a pretty sizeable contract extension to current starting TE Cole Kmet last offseason (who performed well in 2023). All being said. if Ryan Poles and the Bears' front office take Bowers over ANY of the players listed above, all hope I had for the future of this franchise will quickly and violently flush down the toilet.