For the first time in over 70 years, the Chicago Bears will have the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft. Coming into the Week 18 slate, all the Houston Texans had to do was lose to the Indianapolis Colts and they would have the first pick in the 2023 draft. But thanks to a go-ahead touchdown in the final two minutes, the Texans (3-13-1) headed into their offseason with a 32-31 win.
Now, the Bears (3-14) have the No. 1 pick, with some time to decide what they want to do with it.
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Bears Get No. 1 Pick in 2023 NFL Draft
While the Texans led the Colts for most of the Week 18 game, Indianapolis took a seven-point lead in the fourth quarter. With Bears fans intently watching, Texans quarterback Davis Mills found Jordan Akins for a 28-yard touchdown before linking up with Akins again on the go-ahead two-point conversion with 50 seconds left.
After falling to the Minnesota Vikings 29-13 on Sunday to lose their 10th straight game, the Bears now have the first overall pick and likely will be shopping it around to teams interested in selecting Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Bryce Young or Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback CJ Stroud. The Bears already have young quarterback Justin Fields, giveing them flexibility to get creative with how they approach the draft.
“He wants this to be his franchise,” Bears QB coach Andrew Janocko said of Fields, per the Daily Herald. “He wants this to be his city. Just the way he works. Spend five minutes with the kid and you know he’s a dude. Like, he’s a dog. He’s an alpha. Spend a little bit of time with him and you know: This guy, he wants to be it.”
Unfortunately for the Texans and fans who had visions of Young leading their franchise to prominence, it’s no longer a sure thing they’ll get to select the first quarterback in the 2023 NFL Draft.
The Bears might like their quarterback situation, but there are certainly plenty of other holes to fill on a roster that was dominated time and time again throughout the season. Thanks to Mills, Lovie Smith and the Texans pulling off a gutsy win to close out the season, they’ll now have the top draft pick to work with when trying to fill those holes.
