With the Bears sitting at 3-8 with just six games left, the focus is starting to shift to an important 2023 offseason. GM Ryan Poles will have north of $100 million to work with in free agency and eight draft selections, which currently includes the third overall pick.
While this offseason will be all about building around Justin Fields, who has looked every bit the part of a franchise quarterback over the last month, if the Bears land a top-five selection, there some generational defensive talents that should be on the board.
In ESPN’s new 2023 NFL mock draft, they have Chicago selecting Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson with the No. 4 pick, which feels like a projection given the Bears are currently sitting at third overall.
Here’s what ESPN’s Matt Miller had to say about the Bears landing Anderson at fourth overall:
Poles cleaned house on the edge, trading Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn, so Anderson gives him an elite prospect to start his rebuild of the defensive line. Relentless is the word that comes to mind when evaluating Anderson. At 6-foot-4, 243 pounds, he has a nonstop motor and excellent speed out of his stance. He’s my top overall player in this class, and I’ve compared him to Von Miller. I’d place him above Aidan Hutchinson and Travon Walker among recent edge rush prospects, and he’s right on par with Nick Bosa and Chase Young from previous classes. And while this might look like he’s falling, this is really just a super-lucky outcome for the Bears.
There are no shortage of needs on both offense and defense heading into 2023, where the roster will be overhauled again after Poles signed a lot of one-year deals.
But edge rusher has become a glaring need since last offseason, where Chicago has dealt both Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn. The Bears have just 15 sacks through 11 weeks, which ranks 31st in the NFL.
It’s a position they need to address, and if they managed to land Anderson (who won’t make it out of the top five), it would be game-changing for this defense.
