Justin Fields isn’t having a good year. He’s struggled for most of the first six games outside of a good half here and a good quarter there. Seven touchdowns and ten interceptions. Seven fumbles and 23 sacks. It’s been brutal to watch. Some Chicago Bears fans are already growing tired of it. They expected some signs of progress by now. The new offensive system looks far more competent than last year. The running game has exceeded expectations. He shouldn’t be struggling this much.
Others believe the lack of experience in said system and the atrocious pass protection he’s been getting make it almost impossible to evaluate him. Thus the debate rages on. Should the Bears seriously consider a quarterback change when the 2023 off-season arrives? While both sides have valid arguments to make, it is unlikely to happen. Here are three grounded, logical reasons for that.
1.) Giving Justin Fields one more year is a win-win.
Think of it from this perspective. It would be the second year of the same offense. Most QBs always show progress in those situations. Then there is the strong likelihood Poles would use his significant resources next off-season to boost the offensive depth chart. Better protection and better weapons. That, too, should encourage growth from a young quarterback. However, there is also a side benefit to this. Say it doesn’t work. The Bears give him another chance, and it fails to get the results they want. This would likely mean they endure another losing season. While difficult to get through, it would put the team in a good position to draft their next quarterback.
2.) Throwing a rookie into this mess won’t solve the problem.
Say Poles wants to draft his own guy. That is perfectly understandable. Almost every GM that takes over a team would prefer to select their own quarterback unless the one they inherited is a star. Say Fields finishes 2022 poorly. The Chicago Bears would like to take somebody in the draft. Stop and think about it. How much would a rookie quarterback solve the underlying issues with this team? Maybe he’d be a minor improvement in some areas, but he’d inherit the same porous offensive line and underwhelming receiving corps. Unless Poles is 100% certain he’d be landing a future superstar, it might be best to wait.
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3.) The veteran market is weak.
The other route Chicago could take from the Justin Fields experiment would be free agency or the trade market. Several notable veterans have switched teams over the past two years.
- Tom Brady to Tampa Bay
- Russell Wilson to Denver
- Matt Ryan to Indianapolis
- Matthew Stafford to Los Angeles
- Deshaun Watson to Cleveland
- Carson Wentz to Indianapolis and Washington
- Baker Mayfield to Carolina
It worked out pretty well for the Rams and Buccaneers. Maybe the Bears could get in on that action. Well, they don’t really have the draft capital for a trade. So their best bet would be free agency. By far, the best option would be Lamar Jackson, but anybody with common sense knows Baltimore won’t let him reach the market. If they can’t extend him, they’ll franchise tag him. That leaves Daniel Jones, Gardner Minshew, Mayfield, Taylor Heinicke, Cooper Rush, and Jimmy Garoppolo as the best of the rest. Not exactly an exciting group. Taking one last chance on Fields seems preferable to that.
I just laugh. I looked back at some old videos of my playing days and I threw more passes left handed (9) during my last year playing than Fields has thrown this year.
I’ll take Fields in a heart beat over anybody on your silly list.
Let’s face it even Aaron Rodgers wouldn’t do well in Chicago if he replaced Justin Fields. Not with the offensive line the Bears have. Look how bad Rodgers looked when the Packers played the New York Jets.
Fields will turn it around. He was arguably better than Josh Allen and Hurts in college who were bigger and stronger than their competition in high school and college and they turned it around once they built the team around them. Give him time. Build your team the right way.
I think you keep Fields into next year and draft a 3rd or 4th round guy like Zappe with good skills but maybe not at Ohio State. If he develops, great.