4. QB Zach Wilson, BYU
Welcome to the number one draft riser for the 2021 class. BYU’s Zach Wilson has taken quite the leap from his sophomore year to his junior season in 2020. He is obliterating what he did last year, making huge jumps in every major category.
In eight games this season, Wilson has already thrown for 200 more yards than he did all of last year and is completing passes at a 75.0 percent clip. 21 touchdowns to just two interceptions and a ridiculous rating of 200.6 has quarterback-needy teams starting to pay serious attention to Wilson’s campaign.
Wilson’s ascent reminds me a little bit of Jordan Love last year, but he’s a totally different type of player. He’s far better than Love was going into the draft last season. Wilson turns the ball over far less and makes the right read more often than not. He doesn’t chuck the ball into double or triple coverage and he makes the long throws look easy.
He makes tight window throws look simple. His passes are typically on a rope. Wilson throws with precision and purpose. In a word, he looks legitimate.
Wilson also has some rushing ability, too, which is almost a necessity in today’s NFL. He’s making his case to be a top-20 pick and very well could find himself passing up North Dakota State’s Trey Lance for this year’s QB3.
The Bears wouldn’t have to mortgage the future to land Wilson, if they ended up picking between 10-20. But, at this rate, Wilson could launch himself into the Justin Herbert type of draft stock which would make it more difficult for the Bears to get him.