What could the Chicago Bears do if they actually end up with the first two picks in the draft?

The Chicago Bears are off to a 2-6 start to this season and are in position for another high pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. As we know by now, their own pick isn’t the only one they will have in the first round and that other pick may very well end up being the No. 1 pick.

The Bears traded the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft to the Carolina Panthers, who moved up to select quarterback Bryce Young. The Bears received a first-round pick in 2024, a second-round pick in 2025 and wide receiver D.J. Moore.

So the Bears own Carolina’s pick next year. Carolina has yet to win a game this season, off to an 1-6 start following their Week 8 win over C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans. Following Week 8, the Bears are sitting with the No. 3 overall pick. The Panthers and the 1-7 Arizona Cardinals are the only teams ahead of the Bears in the draft race.

Could the Bears actually end up with the first two picks in the draft? And if they do, what direction(s) could they go?

The biggest question to start will be “Will the Bears draft Caleb Williams?”

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner is seen by many as not just the No. 1 quarterback in this upcoming draft class, but the No. 1 player in this class. Williams has overcome very poor defensive play at USC to become a star in college. The quarterback class is certainly stacked, as North Carolina’s Drake Maye and Texas’ Quinn Ewers will also be near the top of the board. But Williams is expected to be the guy…if he declares for the draft. There’s always that chance that he comes back, be it for NIL or whatever the case.

Let’s assume Williams is in the draft and the Bears are in position to draft him. You have to strongly consider it if you’re general manager Ryan Poles. You have no ties to quarterback Justin Fields, who is battling injury again. You’re not the one that traded a first-round pick to the Giants to secure his services.

You’d also have Williams for at least four years on a cheap contract and can slap the fifth-year option if need be. It almost feels like a certainty that the Bears would take Williams at No. 1 if they have the chance.

But what about the other pick? Who do they pair with Williams? Most will immediately say Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. Why not? After Williams, Harrison might be the best player in college. Some will even argue Harrison is at the top. He would have been a high draft pick in the last draft if he would have been able to declare. The only thing that prevented him from doing so was he was too young.

So Caleb Williams throwing to D.J. Moore and Marvin Harrison Jr.? That sounds like a deadly combination. But whoever the quarterback is needs protection, which leads to another scenario the Bears will consider besides Harrison: an offensive lineman.

Fortunately, the draft has some excellent offensive tackles coming out, including Penn State’s Olu Fashanu and Notre Dame’s Joe Alt. Others include JC Latham of Alabama and Taliese Fuaga of Oregon State, if the Bears want to take their chances on waiting.

Grabbing a tackle high would allow the Bears to perhaps move Teven Jenkins inside and now you have your bookend tackles in Darnell Wright and whoever they take early in 2024 with Jenkins, Cody Whitehair and whomever at center as your interior linemen.

Don’t rule out a pass-rusher as well. Get your quarterback and make sure the others you face are under a ton of pressure. Laiatu Latu of UCLA and Chop Robinson of Penn State will be among the first ones taken.

The Bears are in a great position to really turn their franchise around in the upcoming draft. They have to nail this draft.