Chicago Bears fans’ eyes should be glued to Senior Bowl

We are inside 100 days until the NFL Draft and the Chicago Bears main objective is to come away with a franchise quarterback. We have documented the difficulty in doing that with the No. 20 overall pick in April — a byproduct of a few late season wins against the league’s worst teams. But fans should be laser focused on the upcoming Reese’s Senior Bowl and Mac Jones.

Absent a trade for Deshaun Watson (which seems highly unlikely) or a trade up into the top five of the draft (not quite as unlikely but a challenge nonetheless), it appears the Bears will miss out on targets like Justin Fields and Zach Wilson.

They are likely to be outside the range of Trey Lance who will likely also require a trade up into the top 8-15. However, there is one quarterback who call be within reach at 20, and that is Alabama quarterback Mac Jones.

Jones is someone we have been touting as an intriguing candidate. The recent National Champion put together an unbelievable season, finishing with 4,500 passing yards, 41 touchdown passes and just four interceptions. He capped off this remarkable season with a 464 yard, five touchdown performance in the National Championship game against Ohio State.

Chicago Bears have a chance to get a good look at a potential draft option.

He’s more than just a quarterback to put up volume stats. The analytics back up the statement that he was one of the best performing quarterbacks in college this season. In fact, he broke the Pro Football Focus quarterback record for highest single-season grade.

It wasn’t that long ago that the Bears ignored a quarterback in the 2017 NFL Draft who shined on the big stage. It is safe to say the Watson gaffe is still a sore subject within Halas Hall and there won’t be a similar mistake made this time around.

If true, then you’d have to think Jones will get a lot of attention from the Bears’ front office. That should start at this month’s Senior Bowl where Jones has a huge opportunity to silence some of his critics.

One of the biggest question marks or criticisms of Jones has been that he has had the benefit of playing with superstars at Alabama. Many doubt whether he can replicate that success if he’s not surrounded by superior talent.

Well for starters, there weren’t many who held that same fact against Joe Burrow last year. Moreover, Jones accurate passing percentage since 2018 suggests that despite playing with talented players, he is throwing the ball on target and on time.

Nevertheless, with Jones announcing he will attend the Senior Bowl, he will have the chance to showcase his talents without the immense talent he had at Alabama. Consequently, all eyes should be on Jones. However, if he performs well, it could catapult him out of the Bears reach at No. 20.