Former Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields is now a Chicago Bear. The Bears traded up nine spots with the New York Giants in last night's first round of the NFL Draft to pick the former Buckeye.
Fields, a two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the year, was long predicted to be the second player taken in the draft but he eventually slid out of the top 10.
The top three picks in the NFL Draft for the third time ever were passers: Clemson's Trevor Lawrence to Jacksonville and former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, followed by BYU's Zach Wilson to the New York Jets, followed by FCS school North Dakota State's Trey Lance to San Francisco.
Fields is the second quarterback drafted by Chicago general manager Ryan Pace since he was hired in 2015. The Bears traded up a spot in 2017 to take Mitchell Trubisky at No. 2 over Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson. Trubisky is now a backup in Buffalo.
The Bears went 8-8 last season for the second year in a row, then lost at New Orleans in the wild-card round.
No other Ohio State players were taken in the first round, although several are expected to go in the next six rounds. The draft, which is held in Cleveland this year, continues Friday night and Saturday.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
