With No. 1 pick, Chicago Bears not expected to draft an Alabama football player
By Ronald Evans
The Chicago Bears won by losing on Sunday. Chicago will now have the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and with it, they are not expected to select an Alabama football player.
The Bears went into Sunday with only a small chance to gain the top pick. Chicago had to lose to Minnesota and the Texans had to beat the Colts. Losing was the easy part for the Bears, who played a couple of backup quarterbacks rather than playing Justin Fields.
The Houston win was a shocker. The Texans came from behind in the last minute with a fourth and long touchdown pass, followed by a successful two-point conversion. The final score was Houston 32 – Indianapolis 31. If the two-point conversion had failed, the Houston Texans would own the No. 1 pick instead of the Chicago Bears.
Houston coach Lovie Smith did his old team (the Bears) a favor, but as he said in the post-game video below, the only option he saw was to play to win.
Lovie Smith asked about heading into this game knowing that if the #Texans had lost...they would have secured the #1 overall pick in the NFL Draft.
— Daniel Gotera (@DTGotera) January 8, 2023
"Lose the game on purpose? I think that would've been a hard one to get by, they wouldn't expect me to say that...I didn't" pic.twitter.com/iJQS6zVjJK
Smith, in his first season as the Texans’ head coach has been rumored to be on shaky ground for next season. Hopefully, his decision on Sunday will not cost him his job. UPDATE: Smith was fired by the Texans. Former Alabama football linebacker DeMeco Ryans stated he has no interest in the Houston job.
The Bears are now in the NFL Draft catbird seat. Quick reaction from media followers of Chicago is the Bears will stick with Justin Fields and not take a QB with the first pick. Draft experts expect Chicago will trade the first pick and could get as much as a pair of lower first-round picks and possibly also a second-round pick in a deal.
Chicago passing on two Alabama Football Stars
The Bears may draft a former Alabama football player in the 2023 NFL Draft. But by trading down for multiple picks, Chicago will not have a high enough first-round selection to draft either Bryce Young or Will Anderson Jr.
To go along with currently holding the No. 1 pick, the Bears also have the highest by far salary cap space of around $100M. The Bears have an opportunity to not only have the strongest Draft, but to also control the free agency market. The 2023 Bears stand to be much improved over the 2022 Bears.
Next. Changing Crimson Tide QB Rooms. dark
The Bears have not drafted a No. 1 NFL Draft pick since 1947. Given their other options, they don’t need to use the first overall pick in this Draft cycle. Many Alabama football fans appear glad neither Young nor Anderson will go to the Bears.