Although Garrett Wilson is expected to go early in the 2022 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears still have a chance to pair Justin Fields with a former Ohio State teammate.
During NFL Combine week, reporters enjoy asking players which prospective team they’d like to be paired with most. The recent trend of pairing NFL quarterbacks with their wide receivers from college is expected to continue in 2022, especially when 2021 Bengals selection Ja’Marr Chase put up historic numbers on a Super Bowl run with Joe Burrow.
The Bears have moved on from Matt Nagy, and one of their primary concerns in the upcoming draft will be finding the right receiver to elevate Justin Fields as he continues to grow in Chicago.
While Ohio State wideout Garrett Wilson would be an ideal fit with Fields, it’s unlikely that he will still be available when the Bears make a selection with the seventh pick of Round 2. Despite this, the Bears do still have an opportunity to pair Fields with a former Ohio State teammate if another wide receiver is available when they choose.
Bears could pair Justin Fields with Chris Olave if Garrett Wilson is gone
Wilson heads into the NFL Draft with a slightly better year than Olave, with Wilson beefing up his resume with 70 passes for 1,058 yards in 2021. Olave, who caught 65 passes for 936 yards last year, is expected to go late in the first round, while Wilson is expected to go among the top 16 first-round picks.
If the Bears found a way to trade up for Wilson, he’d consider it “a dream come true” to play with Fields, via the Chicago Sun-Times.
“I haven’t really thought about where I’d be playing. Anywhere would be a blessing,” Wilson said. “Definitely to link back up with Justin at the NFL level would be a dream come true, for sure.”
Olave believes that he and Fields “complement each other” on the Bears, with Olave testifying to how hard-working Fields has been on and off the field.
“Justin is a great player, a great dude, and I can’t wait to see his career take off,” Olave said. ‘‘Having him in college as my quarterback, I know what he can do on and off the field. And I know how hard he works. I feel like we’re very similar in ways, and I feel like we could complement each other if we do end up on the same team.”
Whether the Bears trade up for an Ohio State wideout or hope that one falls into the second round remains to be seen, but what can be assumed is that new Bears management hopes to replicate what the Eagles, the Bengals and the Dolphins have done to support their young quarterbacks. They might just pair Fields with a Big Ten rival instead.