NFL Draft: Which prospect do you hope does not end up on an NFC North rival?

Who do you hope stays far away from the Bears’ NFC North rivals?

There’s just one more day before the Chicago Bears start a new era, and there’s one final roundtable question in this quick WCG miniseries.

On Monday, we asked our team to give us the one prospect (besides the obvious at number one) that we hope the Bears will draft, and yesterday, we gave the one prospect we hope the Bears would avoid.

Today’s question was about the Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions, and the Green Bay Packers, and it was…

Which prospect do you hope does not end up on an NFC North rival?

Here’s what we had to say on this final roundtable topic.

Josh Sunderbruch: Cooper DeJean. I grew up a Hawkeye fan, and I’ve grown really tired of seeing talented Iowa players go to other teams in the NFC North. I think DeJean is potentially the best defender in this draft, so I’d really like for him to go somewhere in the AFC.

Aaron Leming: Drake Maye. The evaluations and overall narrative surrounding this quarterback class has been a wild ride. Caleb Williams appears to be the unquestioned QB1 but somehow, Maye has fallen out of favor with the majority of draft analysts. Even so, I’ve got him firmly as my QB2 and in most classes, he’d be an easy QB1. His arm talent, combined with his physical abilities are something teams should be drooling over. The Minnesota Vikings are making a clear play to move up for a quarterback, and I believe a worst-case scenario in this draft would be him ending up in Minnesota. I firmly believe that Williams will be the better quarterback, but it doesn’t mean I’d want two top-tier quarterbacks from the same draft class in the NFC North.

Erik Duerrwaechter: I really do not want to deal with either Byron Murphy II or Dallas Turner being anywhere else within the NFC North. Both of those guys are my DT1 and DE1 respectively, and they’re both game wreckers who would make life difficult for Caleb Williams if they were in the division.

Mason West: I hope the Vikes can’t swing a deal to get Michigan’s JJ McCarthy, which would leave them with Sam “I’m seeing ghosts” Darnold, Nick Mullens, and Jaren Hall. At best, they draft Penix or Nix, which sounds heavenly. I truly think JJ is going to be solid; he just needs time. He can be a top 10-15 QB with his arm talent, football IQ, and mentality. I don’t want to afford the Vikings that luxury. Let’s let the Vikings go back to the Ponder/Bridgewater days of sadness.

Lester A. Wiltfong Jr.: The Vikings have a talented offense and a solid coaching staff, so I don’t want them anywhere near Maye, who I think is QB2 in this class. I also would rather not see UCLA defensive end Laiatu Latu fall into the NFC North. But if Caleb Williams is who I think he is, then I don’t care who the Packers, Vikings, or Lions draft.

Now it’s your turn. Which prospect do you hope does not end up on an NFC North rival?