What the Chicago Bears are about to do after the season finale this weekend hasn’t been seen before. Sure, there has been a debate about replacing a veteran quarterback with a young draft choice in the past, but this scenario is different. Justin Fields isn’t some 36-year-old who has watched his best years pass him by. He’s 24 and entering his prime. He’s also been playing some of the best football of his career. The problem is the Bears hold the #1 overall pick. GM Ryan Poles has the golden ticket to pick any quarterback in the class he wants. The obvious problem is whether he should.
Keeping Fields means the Bears could auction the pick off again for a mountain of capital, further accelerating their rebuild. He’d likely have another year to keep growing with a strong supporting cast. On the other hand, resetting at QB allows the team to maintain a cheap contract at that position while hopefully upgrading their ability to throw the ball. Fields still ranks in the bottom half of the league for all his progress as a passer. There is one other problem an NFL executive confirmed to Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune.
How bad would the fallout be in the Bears locker room?
“Drafting Caleb may actually be the difficult choice,” the exec said. “That may be a harder decision for them to make than keeping Fields. Drafting Caleb Williams (or another quarterback) is going to send shockwaves through that locker room … which is never fun. That’s an incredibly uncomfortable feeling. But it still might be the right move for the team.”
The Chicago Bears have seen this Fields scenario before.
Chicago finished 2008 with a 9-7 record. Though they failed to make the playoffs, they still had a good team and felt they had a competent leader at quarterback in Kyle Orton. Teammates loved him. However, GM Jerry Angelo felt the Bears needed an upgrade at quarterback if they were going to compete for a Super Bowl. So Orton and multiple 1st round picks were traded to Denver for Jay Cutler. While the Bears may have improved the talent level at that position, many in the locker room felt they lost far more in terms of leadership.
That seems to be the fear with many Chicago Bears fans today. Fields has clearly established himself as a primary locker room leader. Teammates love him. They believe in him. That sort of thing matters. While it is possible Poles can hit a home run at quarterback with that #1 pick, there is also a 40% chance he won’t. Is it worth the risk to mess with team chemistry like that? Undoubtedly, this makes the decision even harder for the GM. Fields has done almost everything asked of him except become a top-10 passer.
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Sadly, that is one of the most vital components of winning championships these days. Whatever Poles does, it will take lots of guts.
I’m a Bears fan and have been one longer than most commenters on here have been alive. But, exactly what I said would happen – happened. Love completely outplayed JF. And GB was without their best receiver to boot. JF throw exactly 0 touchdowns and got sacked 5 times. Ahh, JF the sack-master. What great improvement in 3 years, huh? That’s not a comment made in haste but made from history. Love ‘s QBR was 31+ points higher than Fields and Love more than doubled JF’s passing yards. Bears were 3/11 on third downs. Enough of this sub-average guy. Get… Read more »
@Tred I agree. I just think sometimes the comments here are made in haste and unsupported by the logic you just displayed. It just seems that ScoobyDoo and others should stick to making cartoons of themselves and quit trying to act like they know what they’re talking about. *LOL*
So, the multimillion dollar burger flipper, huh? Wow, now there’s a comparison I love. First, I do get what you’re trying to say, but you could make the same comment about a dog walker blamed for the dog crapping on the Mayor’s lawn. The dog pooped, not the walker but the walker ultimately has to be ready to clean up the mess. The same for the burger flipper, but you chose the frequency for his mistakes in your comparison as though JF1 drops the passes he throws, misses the blocks of the rushers, runs the wrong routes or calls plays… Read more »
hehateme30 – Just because you say stats don’t matter doesn’t make it true. In fact, far from it. Comparing QB Fields’ dismal stats against another QB within the same division is most certainly relevant. Comments like, don’t look at the stats, are just ignorant. How else are QBs to be rated? My goodness, get a clue. I actually want the Bears to be a contender and not the doormat laughingstock of the NFL – which they currently are because of a below-average QB.
I hope fellow Bears fans watched the Texans defeat the Colts this evening. If you did, you saw what an actual very good QB plays like. No holding onto the ball too long and getting sacked, no tucking and running when receivers are wide open, no fumbling and no picks. Poles passed on Stroud because he didn’t see that “special something” even though in his rookie year Stroud was able to throw for over 4,000 yards (never done in the history of the Bears), is rated as a top-10 passer in the league and just led his team into the… Read more »