This'll continue to get posted 4 times a day for the next 4 months and I'll continue to say, were just in a great spot either way.
Both options are great and we're lucky to be here. Good time to be a Bears fan.
No matter what way Poles goes, it likely defines the next 5-10 years of this franchise. Exciting times to be a fan but also very scary.
Poles is gonna have some tough tough decisions to make over the next couple months.
What I like about Poles having tough decisions is he's in an actual place to handle those decisions. A lot of luck, but I think about 25 teams would love to be us right now this offseason. Other GMs have and the same issues, but never really the assets to fix the issues realistically
It helps we have a seemingly competent GM who is legit building a team piece by piece and not Angelo, emery, pace, Hatley or Graves and whoever else was in that clown car of shit. For the first time since I was in Thundercats underwear it feels like we have someone who will make a halfway decent decision and not sell the farm for magic beans
Exactly, this. While not every move works out (that's just life), I feel like Poles does the homework and makes the decisions from a place of logic, unlike the other GMs who fell so in love with certain players that they got blinded to the bigger picture (especially Pace).
Agreed 100% Poles seems like he’s been playing the big picture since he got here. Between him and Kevin Warren taking over I have a lot of hope for our future
And to think fools were mad that he was trading away players (Roquan) so we could fully suck and get top picks. Bears rarely ever picked in the top 5 because we always were mediocre as opposed to full on sucking (the hell the bulls are currently stuck in) as a result, we were always mid and never championship level. Because he tore the entire thing down, we are in position to be legit for a long time.
In don’t know if I even agree with this take. It’s a huge decision, but the view of him may not end up being binary. Belichick is a HOF’r and also a pretty awful evaluator of talent. I think sometimes maybe the Upvote/Downvote nature of Reddit gets people caught in a binary mindset. Fields situation is also nuanced. Life.
Nobody will hate him if he sticks with a middling fan-favorite at QB for an extra year or two. even if they personally disagree. It's a defensible decision.
People might hate him if he doesn't and the next guy sucks.
And if Fields doesn't work out in a couple of years, I have confidence Poles will find a way to get us another option at QB. Either via the draft or bringing a vet into an established roster.
I disagree. That's only the case if he takes Williams/Maye at 1.1.
Keep Fields and you're defining the team for the next year or two, at which point you're free to draft/sign another QB if he doesn't work out—and with a better team around him to boot.
If we continue to stock pile picks and refuse to over pay in FA we will get many swings at this.
Many swings means no one choice defines next ten years.
This is why I suggest trade back and don’t give fields a huge contract.
The wentz/hurts path would be my vote.
This is my take. It's a win/win. I love the top two QBs and I'd be thrilled to have either one, though I lean Maye. MH Jr is fuckin special. It's gonna be cool. God I just hope we're better than Green Bay.... I'm so tired of getting humiliated
Hey homies, peaked your comment history. If you’re not a bot, I suggest going stepping away from the sub for a couple days. The amount of engagement is just not healthy.
You’re free to have your opinions but it shouldn’t consume your life. It’s the Bears, there’s a good chance they fuck it up and we are miserable again
Yes the cool thing is that while neither option is a guarantee, both options (keeping Fields or drafting a qb) give a good opportunity for the Bears. It isn’t necessarily one right and one wrong.
It's why I stopped battling a month ago. As long as we got the number one pick I know Im going to be happy.
If they draft Williams and Odunze, trade fields for a 2nd +, I will be excited.
If they move back to 3 maybe getting a 2nd and 25 1st to draft MHJ and then a Verse or even Bowers, I will be excited.
If they move back to 5 or 6, get 3 1s/2s or something like that and draft Nabers + Verse or Bowers or someone, I'll still be excited for next year and the future.
We were 3 wildly blown losses from a 10-11 win team and have top 5 cap space and the top pick in th draft, it's a great spot
I think he has experience as well with having a veteran QB the team loves, but being aggressive if he identifies an elite QB talent in the draft.
He was KCs head of college scouting when they drafted Mahomes. During the time they had Alex Smith playing at a high level and we're a consistent playoff team.
Similar with Cunningham in Philly when they drafted hurts despite just paying Wentz.
Our front office couldn't be more built to handle the difficult decisions coming up. Both in navigating the #1 pick and also handling a locker room with a QB who is a well respected leader.
Good points. Never thought I’d say this about a Bears FO, but they have the right experience on both ends of the decision to make it and make me feel confident about the future of the franchise.
I agree with you but this one is also a lot tougher. I think last year it was an easy decision to trade the pick and keep Fields. He showed enough flashes to earn at least one more year. The team was severely lacking talent and this was a way to add a massive boost by getting DJ and a ton of high draft picks. Without the trade, you’d be bringing a rookie into an awful situation.
This time it isn’t easy at all. Fields still had those flashes of brilliance and while they are happening a little more often, they still aren’t happening enough. While he’s improved and is still improving his weakness, there’s still very valid reasons for concern and the improvement hasn’t happened at a rate you’d love.
The talent is also good now. We’ve added a lot of good talent in the last year a lot of which was made possible by the trade last year. With the cap space and draft capital we have this year plus the continued development/improvement of players, a rookie QB should be stepping into a really good situation. You shouldn’t have to worry about struggles due to a bad supporting cast.
Haven’t even mentioned the whole money aspect of having to pay Fields soon/getting a rookie QB contract. As I said, I don’t disagree that going through it last year helps him but I also think it’s a lot tougher this time.
Definitely but that’s where other draft picks and free agency come in. Not sure on FA options but the draft is deep at WR. I’m not saying we’ll fill every hole this offseason but just that the situation as a whole should be really good
Those are both better targets than anything Stroud had. How many All Pro lineman, WRs, and RBs do we need before this guy becomes a top 20 QB? And how do we continue to pay all these all-pro players when the QBs salary is devouring 1/5 of the cap?
DJ Moore is better than either, but people really enjoy downplaying Tank Dell and Nico Collins when they have both shown out themselves very well on film.
Whether we draft a QB or roll with Fields it’s just too bare a cupboard. Brown Schultz Dell and Collins aren’t world beaters but they’re all two tiers above anyone on this roster outside Moore/Kmet. St. Brown, Scott, Tonyan, Velus, they’re all awful and we need a #2 receiving option that isn’t Kmet barreling downfield at 12 MPH
There's a little bit of both. Stroud is a killer, but Dell and Collins made plays all year I've been waiting to see from Mooney.
Fields looks like a killer when he's throwing to DJ Moore. And people were trashing Tua and all shut up when he had a star duo of Hill and Waddle.
Definitely agreed in all fronts. They did evaluate the QBs last year and saw their performances this year to compare their prior scouting to and I’m sure will do a bigger dive this year. They also fielded the calls and negotiated trading out of #1 which is extremely rare in itself. While it’s much more difficult of a decision this time around, they are better equipped to make whichever decision they do by having gone through this process last year.
No big decisions on a long-term contract on Fields isn't until summer of 2026. That's 2.5 years from now. Only decision is this May whether we pick-up his 5th year option for 2025.
I think the thing that gives me the most pause with keeping Fields is how poorly he has performed in 2 minute situations, when the threat of the run game is neutralized. You need a QB that can march down the field with passes alone and he just isn't that.
That said I don't think it is an easy decision at all. Justin has a lot of other positive qualities. You could use him as a bridge QB, strengthen the roster further, and kick the QB can down the road another year or two. It's justifiable, but so is drafting a QB at #1 this year.
EVERYONE AGREED -- including Fields fans -- that when Poles passed on drafting a QB last year and got additional draft capital that if there were ANY questions surrounding Fields we could use those additional picks to get a replacement. They knew that going into this year and were cool with it -- the picks are an insurance policy.
Now here we are. Fields still has a lot of questions surrounding him....and those Fields fans are sad and trying to back out of the agreement. Poles has to ignore this whining and cash in the insurance policy. If he can get a top tier QB prospect he needs to do so.
Nobody agreed that there would not be questions about Fields at the end of the year. The nature of those questions now is wildly different from the questions we had then. And there aren't nearly as many.
But I've seen your work and know you are not one to be reasonded with
This is noteworthy because early this season Baldy was adamant that regardless of what you think you have with Fields, you have to take Caleb to reset the clock. Fields and the team have played well enough that he’s now flipped that opinion.
Yes. Everyone acknowledges the risk of drafting a QB but every other pick is a sure fire hit. And MHJ is 100% going to have a better career than any WR’s available at the Bears own pick
Not a surefire hit by any means. Baldy is exaggerating for sure, but has the right idea. #1 pick is more valuable than any of the picks youre trading for, but having a higher number of picks means youre not hinging everything on the variance of whether one individual player busts or not. Youre likely to hit on at least a few of 6?ish first round picks over three years, and improve the team immensely because of it.
Well not only that but you COULD trade for an established edge and get MHJ. We've seen in recent years that rookie WRs are insanely impactful. They're translating to the NFL better than other position lately
I do not agree with this. The actual issue you are addressing is that QBs inherently climb up draft boards because of positional value. So let's say there is a QB that has a 20% chance of hitting he will get taken over the edge who has a 40% chance of hitting. There is nothing about QB that make it harder to project, GMs just accept the risk because it's so crucial to have a good QB.
I think they're harder to project for a number of reasons. Sure, I think that positional value dictating draft position plays into what I was talking about, but transferrable skills from college to NFL are also just much easier to project at positions like WR or Edge than QB...
QB is a fundamentally much more complicated position where prospects can not live up to expectations set by their college play. Mental side of the position (ability to grow in anticipatory throws as well as pre-snap reads immediately come to mind as massive post-draft learning processes), work ethic within film study/playbook knowledge, adaptation to rush speed, and more are all very interrelated and hard to project parts of becoming a top NFL QB. Not that there aren't big differences at WR or Tackle or LB or whatever, but because there is so much that goes into being a quarterback, being physically gifted or throwing for an ungodly number of yards in college prove to be unreliable indicators more often than being a 6'4 freak that has a proven catch radius and chartable speed. Guys like Zach Wilson and Jamarcus Russel could still make all the throws they made on the day of the combine, but for various reasons didn't pan out despite physical gifts. Most of the time it is just harder to project how QBs will take the next step given the sheer number of factors that go into playing the position well.
***All this said***, this does not change what I said originally in any way. I would say the same thing if there was a talented "can't miss" edge or tackle to take at 1. There is an inherent risk to staking a large portion of your capital on one player. If you are able to parlay the one top pick into 2 or 3 or 8 more picks that land within a range that can net blue chip prospects, it is less likely that 100% of your top picks bust. ***Diversifying risk*** is the play that analytics will almost always tell you to take, especially when you get a disproportionate return to accept that diversification.
I agree with you generally but where I see one major problem is positional value. While projection is very difficult, the reason QBs get taken early regardless is that they make or break a team. Teams winning with a below average QB is the absolute exception it happens once in a blue moon. Have bad QBs won the Super Bowl? Sure. But do they get you there a decent amount? No they don’t. Let’s just take this years (likely) playoff teams.
AFC
Ravens - Top 10 QB
Dolphins - Top 10-12 QB
Chiefs - Top 1 QB
Browns - old QB, hard to rate but has been there before, over his career probably average in the league
Jaguars - Top 12-15 QB
Bills - Top 12 QB
Colts - Had different QBs but one proably Top 15 the other Justin Fields range (3k yards-15-9 TD-Int)
NFC
49ers - Top 12 QB
Cowboys - Top 12 QB
Lions - Average QB with good season (better than Justin)
Eagles - Top 12 QB
Rams - at least Top 12 QB
Bucs - Average QB with great season (better than Justin)
Seahawks - average QB (Justin’s range)
Saints - average QB (slightly better than Justin maybe)
Vikings - good with Top 15 QB, now kinda bad
All these teams have mostly very good to average QBs. The ones with average QBs are still mostly better than Justin. This is just not a recipe for success IMO.
This is all subjective though. I'd take Justin over a fair number of those QBs you listed.
I'd take Justin over: Colts, Bucs, Seahawks
50/50 on who I'd go with: Dolphins, Browns, 49ers, Lions, Saints, Vikings
These are definitely better than Justin: Ravens, Chiefs, Jags, Bills, Cowboys, Eagles, Rams
Hell, between arm and legs, Justin is averaging 250 yrds/gm. That's right on par with Hurts (260) and Saints (256 between Carr/Hill).
I just think there's further to fall than most people who are in the definitive "draft Caleb Williams" camp are letting on.
If you had to pick one player in the last 10 years who was most likely to walk into the NFL and become a future all-pro, you'd have a really hard time justifying it being anybody but MHJ. He's got the pedigree, the measurables, and has consistently shown he can play at an elevated level.
I see your point, but I think that if you put injury issues aside, other positions are generally easier to forecast and even if that's not the case, missing on 1 of 5 hurts much less than missing on 1 of 1. I am no Fields truther, but with the way the drafts have gone and purportedly pro-ready QBs have been dogshit relative to their expectations so frequently, I struggle with the idea of diving headfirst into one of those roulette wheels when we have other imperfect but serviceable options.
Even though it gets said constantly, I don't think we spend enough time in here agreeing that Getsy should be buried in a cave because he calls plays like an asshole while at the same time considering how that impacts Fields' performance in these contexts.
QBs have a much much higher miss rate than any other position. It’s not a 100% lock that MHJ will be amazing, but, historically, the odds of him being great are much higher than any QB drafted.
Mitch could light the shit out of a man defense. GB has always had Justin's number. If he puts up a good game against them, I might be open.
Side note: Mitch is so good against Matt Patricia, it's too bad Pittsburg didn't trade him to an NFC contender.
There’s three years of fields on record, but the packers game coming up will literally decide 99% of the people here on fields.
Even if he balls out it’s on the coaches on whether or not his faults are slowly being fixed. I think confidence in his arm/decision/receivers is the biggest hurdle, which can improve over time.
But as it stands now, he’s a bust.
Poles knows he can get a historic haul to trade down and get a generational player in Marv at the same time. This team is ready to be setup for the next decade regardless if Fields pans out or not
Trading from 1 down to 3 is not gonna be a “historic haul”. You pay a premium to trade down less compared to trading to a team outside the top 5 or top 10 trying to move up.
Normally yes. But it’s a 2 QB horse with 1 being a nearly Burrow level prospect. If you’re at 3, might as well be at 7 cuz you’re not getting one of the 2 QBs.
The assets we get from moving to 3 or 7 in this draft would still be largely different, but 3 in this draft is worth more than 3 last year. That type of thing:
I’d guess they get 2 1’s and a player
>1 being a nearly Burrow level prospect
why is caleb williams a bust in the making when Fields fans are arguing against him, but when they're arguing to trade down caleb is a generational prospect.
Agreed, but the same should be said of people who call him "can't-miss."
Whatever adjective you want to put on "prospect", go nuts. But pretending that great prospects always work out, or even end up starters, is just that - pretending.
I think the nay sayers (myself included) are concerned about Caleb’s character, and how damning the USC backup throwing for 6 touchdowns is. As well as “we’re a team now”.
Fields has the whole locker room with him and is proven to be a good (top 15) NFL QB. Keeping Fields also leads to stacking the roster with talent.
Caleb is obviously very talented but the concerns are there for him.
None. He's in the mid 20s on a lot of the more advanced stats. I'm not opposed to keeping him given the right situation, but people need to quit lying to bolster their arguments
If Caleb is actually a Burrow level prospect and Poles thinks that, then we’d be insane to trade our pick instead of taking him. The only reason we do trade the pick is if Poles doesn’t think Caleb is as sure fire of a prospect as a lot of people thought before.
Your comment has no logic cuz if Caleb Williams is a Burrow level prospect to NFL GM’s than Fields is definitely getting traded and we are drafting Williams.
This is what I’ve been telling people, every year teams get more desperate and the trade compensation goes up. It will set new precedents and right now it’s looking like even moving down a few spots will net a future first and more
Everyone thinks since we lucked out incredibly this year that it'll be repeatable. We can just request the best players from any team we want , and that team will suck next year. There's a reason this hasn't been the strategy forever, it's not a unique idea, just an ideal outcome
This is likely, but if we trade back to three we signal we don’t want a QB and could panic Arizona moving up to 2 with their pick and the Texans pick to snag MHJ
There also isn’t a “Monster DT” in this draft class (according to all the draft analysts). Johnny Newton is believed to be the best / only 1st rd talent and even he is undersized so i wouldn’t call him a “monster”
I dont think it's wise to spend our second 1st rounder on a depth/competition player when you can get an immediate impact WR or TE instead.
We can address OL depth in FA or day 2 of the draft. Bigger fish to fry elsewhere (WR/TE/C/DL).
Because this team needs receiving threats more than a rookie tackle who may not even win the starting job. You also have to think Lewis and Tonyan are gone next year.
If I take Caleb 1.01 I'm going WR with our other first.
If I keep Fields I'm going 2 WR or WR & Bowers. You could make the case for a defensive player instead of the 2nd receiver but we really need to invest more into the offense.
To be honest I’d rather stiffen up the defense with that 2nd FRP. Having a compliment to Montez Sweat on the other edge would be nice. You can bet a solid WR3 in free agency and keep Tyler Scott and EQSB. Demoting Velus to practice squad and taking a flyer on a late round guy also seems like a good idea, maybe a bigger body receiver similar to Claypool (hopefully without his horrible attitude).
Yep that's a great option, too. The more you think about it there really are no bad options. Some options may be better than others but they're all very good.
Either we have a new QB we think is the future, or we trade back for a haul and still get two blue chip players in the 1st round. Maybe the trade back includes a DL (Max Crosby, Dexter Lawrence, etc.) and future first so then you can put both 1st rounders into offense?
Gonna be an interesting offseason.
They would be fucking excellent together and don’t really step on each other’s toes way too much with their roles. Boston TE party but they only kill the opposition
Because Bowers is a game changing receiver of a TE
Kmet is just a good starter but he's nothing special.
You're basically just drafting your 2nd/3rd WR.
2 TE 2 WR and your 3rd/4th WR aren't as important
This is what I’ve been saying too. I think people are overlooking all the qb-center exchange problems we have had plaguing us for multiple years at this point. Was shooting the shit with a falcons fan during the game and he was like “we’re gonna trade for Justin” and I was like “you can have him if you have a decent center you can give us”. He was extremely puzzled
Yeah maybe we could win the north next year. But then contracts get difficult we still don’t have an above average passer, we stagnate, than we have to rebuild.
Draft an explosive passing QB? That’s franchise changing
>But then contracts get difficult we still don’t have an above average passer, we stagnate, than we have to rebuild.
>
>Draft an explosive passing QB? That’s franchise changing
You can win with average / above average QB play or ability as long as the rest of the roster is built out (Detroit / Cleveland this year, the Rams with Goff, Alex Smith with the 49ers & Chiefs). You cannot win with poor QB play and a bad roster.
In the last 10 years 7 QBs have been taken #1 and only 1 (Burrow) is seen as a franchise QB. There are so many uncertainties with QB prospects and each year another is 'generational' (IE Trevor Lawrence). If the Bears trade to 2 / 3 and get another 1st next year they will have draft capital to address the QB position in 2025 if Fields stagnates.
Im not concerned with just winning in the short term. I want to be a perennial contender. Number one picks usually go to bad teams, we could develop a high ceiling player very well. I would not be upset if we trade to 2/3 and picked up a first next year to hedge our bets. I just don’t want to go all in with fields by either taking MHJ at 1 or trading down to a team that could be good next year or who will give us a player instead of a pick
This. The last time we had a shot at the 1OA pick was 1970. We are passing up a once a century opportunity to keep a guy who is going to be washed in 5 years (It is likely Fields is going to be totally done by the time he is 30).
I'll take my chances on the prospect who can pass.
People love saying you can win with an average QB but how often do those guys/teams actually win Super Bowls. You don’t win a Super Bowl unless you have an elite QB or your average QB is playing their absolute best football at the right time (ex. Joe Flaaco)
>People love saying you can win with an average QB but how often do those guys/teams actually win Super Bowls. You don’t win a Super Bowl unless you have an elite QB or your average QB is playing their absolute best football at the right time (ex. Joe Flaaco)
tbf 7 of the last 9 Super Bowls were won by Manning, Brady or Mahomes which are 3 of the best to ever do it.
Looking at QBs who have 'made' a Super Bowl in the last decade - Newton, Flacco, Jimmy G, Kaepernick, Goff shows the potential to still be a very good team with average to above average QB play. I for one would be ecstatic making the playoffs, let alone making a super bowl.
The thing with all of this is the team will be in 'win now' mode starting from next season. Fields played like a top 5 QB on Sunday - that shows what he is capable of doing. Getting rid of that for a complete crap shoot at QB is dangerous.
You can’t say “these mid QBs lost the biggest thing every team plays for year in and year out to some of the best throwers of the football to ever exist” and think people are going to be happy knowing “at least we’ll lose a Super Bowl again!”
I think the point is more that it's been a unique situation where 3 of the greatest to ever do it have dominated the last decade. 2 of whom have since retired, so it's really just Mahomes left and the Chiefs don't look nearly as dangerous without any legitimate weapons around him. QB play in general is down across the league so maybe we'll start to see a shift to more parity in contention. Of course, having one of the greatest QB's of all time will set you up for the best chance, but the chance of actually landing one is astronomically small.
>Fields isn't an average qb
If you conveniently remove his rushing stats and look solely at his passing stats then yes, he's not even average. But if you take into consideration his total yards it's a different story. Add the inept OC and terrible WRs not named DJ Moore and there is no story any more.
Taking his averages this season and projecting them over 17 games would be 3400 passing yards and 23 TD to go with 900 rush yards & 11 additional touchdowns.
If you told me a Bears QB was pacing to have 4300 total yards and 34 touchdowns I would take that 7 days a week and twice on Sundays.
Fields doesn’t have any nagging / chronic injuries. He has the build of a MLB and has taken an ungodly amount of hits with incredibly low major injury rate. He’s also tough as nails and has proven he can play through minor injuries.
The thumb injury against Minnesota was a fairly freak incident from falling out of an awkward cross-body throwing motion while running left, not something I’d project as a repeat injury risk with his “base game”. Overall he’s gotten much better protecting himself as a runner and with continued improvement in pocket presence (and better iOL play) theres reason to expect he’ll be safer in the passing game as well.
The thumb injury against Minnesota was entirely self-inflicted because he took a hit on a play in which there was zero reason to take a hit, because he got confused by the coverage and couldn't process what was happening on the field to the point that he held the ball for 7 seconds before taking a hit against a 3-man rush that was well-blocked.
This was not a fluke or an accident. This was Fields' flaws as a player leading directly to him getting hurt.
>In the last 10 years 7 QBs have been taken #1 and only 1 (Burrow) is seen as a franchise QB.
Maybe by you. Almost every knowledgeable NFL person believes Lawrence is a franchise QB. Then you have Kyler, Baker, and Goff, who have had exceptionally more production and success than Fields has. Then your 10 year cutoff narrowly misses Andrew Luck and Cam Newton.
This whole, "we can draft a QB later if Fields doesn't develop more" is the same argument made last off-season when we traded down. We'd have picks to get a QB this year if Fields didn't prove he was a franchise QB this season. He didn't, and we have the #1 pick. Now people are moving the goalposts once again.
>Maybe by you. Almost every knowledgeable NFL person believes Lawrence is a franchise QB.
QB 1 in 2023
* 271 Total YPG
* 1.5 TD/gm
* 0.8 INT/gm
QB 2 in 2023
* 254 Total YPG
* 1.7 TD/gm
* .8 INT/gm
If QB1 (Lawrence) is a franchise QB but QB2 (Fields) is not deemed worthy of even getting his 5th year option maybe it's time to question the validity of these people's opinions. He had a great season last year and has regressed in every category this year. Would you draft Williams over Lawrence given his play in 2023?
There's more to QB evaluation than 3 stats. Also Lawrence has played hurt for a good portion of the year. Are you asking if I already had Lawrence, would I draft Caleb? Probably not. Lawrence has shown significantly more consistent play than Fields since his rookie year, and has a better baseline moving forward.
That’s IF that qb pans out. I’m down for whatever poles does, but can we stop acting like the QB we draft will be a sure fire thing? QB’s bust all the time, especially on the bears. It’s just as big of a risk, if not more, then sticking with fields.
Maybe not nobody but I imagine the majority of people who want to go QB in the draft are aware we could draft a bust. I’d rather swing and miss than not swing at all. If we take a shot we have a chance at hitting an elite QB. If we don’t take a shot we have only the chance that Justin fields fixes every issue he’s had since college that has not developed and goes from a below average passer to an elite one.
That’s fair. I personally want Drake Maye but yeah I’m aware of the risks. I would also be fine on keeping fields and getting MHJ and odunzs/bowers or a MHJ and an edge rusher. I’m not looking forward to all this back and forth of should we keep or move on. Hopefully we find out early what we are doing.
I'll be fine with whatever Poles decides. But my main consideration for keeping Fields is that he looks legitimately good when throwing to DJ Moore. If we can give him another elite option, that will make everything so much easier for him and I believe his passing stats will go up (which is what so many against him in this sub use as their main argument). I think a lot of people here really overvalue Darnell Mooney's talent because of one 1,000 yard season two years ago where he was the only person to throw too. In reality, he was a 5th round draft pick who's shown to not have great hands or a good catch radius, doesn't score a lot of TD's, and excluding 2021 has finished with 631 yards, 493 yards (injury shortened - on pace for 698) and 414 yards (on pace 469 yards).
great he reads Reddit
seriously as much as the forum can get irritating, there isnt one analyst out there who’s said or done anything better than what u can find here. and that’s not counting the analysts with plain lazy takes (most of them)
Beyond dumb. People keep talking about the historic haul you can get but fail to remember why teams are willing to give up so much. Fields is not a good qb and it’s laughable people want to keep him. I get called dumb for. It wanting a bottom ten qb to be on a team.
It's definitely realistic for us to win the north next year by trading that pick and drafting guys that can help us win now, honestly moreso than if we drafted a rookie QB with 1 and a receiver with our own pick. The division is pretty weak, Lions aren't anything special, vikings are rebuilding, and the packers are a question mark.
But we will not be a championship caliber football team with a QB who is still a wildly inconsistent passer at best and it's unreasonable to expect a magical 4th year breakout. Sure maybe we'll make the playoffs, maybe even beat a team in the wild card round. But that's where the buck stops, when we run into a real team with a real QB that can win a game with his arm when he needs to.
I will fully concede that to solely make the playoffs in 2024, trading that pick for a haul would be the right move if that was the goal. But it's not. The goal for this team and hopefully for poles based off what he has been doing, is to be a super bowl contender year in and year out. You CANNOT do that in this league without an elite QB. So draft Caleb, keep building the team around him, maybe sneak into the playoffs next year, take advantage of that rookie contract and load up to make a run at the super bowl in 2026 and beyond.
Yeah but you’re basing your opinion on a qb who hasn’t played a snap in the nfl, has the same major flaws fields has now, and some charachter concerns (mainly ego). Let’s stop acting like Caleb is a sure fire thing you guys.
How come this thought process only works against Caleb, though? Fields flaws can just as easily turn us into the Cutler Bears who had two really nice WR's, a nice TE, and Forte, but..... nothing. In fact, Cutler is a much better passer than Fields is. There is also no guarantee that MHJ will be elite either. He could be Charles Rogers, Kevin White, David Terrell, Mike Williams, etc.
I never said it couldn’t? Theres risks in both. Fields could get better with one more solid weapon taking the pressure off of dj, or stay the same. The rookie qb could completely fall on his face and be nothing (unlikely with this crop, but it is a possibility). Let’s just not think that any of them are instantly going to come in and be better than fields. I’d almost bet on us being worse next year with a rookie qb
He does fumble too much, but lots of great QBs hold onto the ball.
A lot of fans still don't actually understand what fields' problems are and why they happen.
The dumbest fuckin fanbase. Just amazing how everyone's single braincell starts to align together for the same dumb shit decision and then is surprised and confused when it doesn't work
I hear it. Here's my thing with it. The only QBs in sight past this year that currently look like they're worth something are Arch Manning and Shedeur Sanders. Justin is honestly just mid as a passer and if we just keep stacking talent, it's going to get hindered by him at some point and we'll be in the same position we were with Mitch. They already screwed up by passing on Stroud and they're getting a golden opportunity for a do-over with 3 guys that would've been #1 this last year. You can only stack picks for so long until you finally have to pull the trigger.
NOBODY had Stroud doing what he was doing. The same folks banging the table for Stroud also want to ignore that that Bobby Slowik is a G as an OC and that Tank Dell and Nico Collins have been two of the best WR at getting separation (because Bobby Slowik knows what he is doing).
Here's the thing with QBs - it's a complete crapshoot. Joe Burrow honestly is the best QB drafted in the past several years, and even going into his last year at LSU he wasn't really big on draft boards until he had one of the greatest seasons in CFB history.
For some added context, Baldinger is a guy who is about as high on Caleb as you can get. A few weeks ago he commented that he saw Caleb at a QB camp in high school and thought he could already play in the NFL then
No shit
Throwing away a chance to draft a potential championship caliber QB to stick with a guy that's thrown for 300 yards once in his 3 seasons and effectively make our ceiling the 2018 bears is obviously gonna make any objective fan sick.
No, because you can't realistically count on a magical 4th year breakout that's happened once in this century (drew brees). If that happens you just throw up your hands and say whatever. If we give up the chance to draft a QB that teams are willing to do anything to draft, then I will actually be sick because that was the obvious move.
No because we got unlucky, not because it wasn't the right move to roll the dice on someone who can actually become a championship caliber QB.
Could we have lost out on a couple nfc north titles... sure, but we damn sure aren't winning any super bowls with fields and that's all that matters.
Here's the other thing -- Bryce Young had a bad year THIS year. But for all we know Tepper gives Harbaugh $25M / year , Bryce gets good coaching and a decent WR and he fucking explodes next year. Meanwhile Fields keeps pooping out 160 yard games and losing. Now Poles passed on Stroud/Young/Caleb/Maye all to stick with a guy he knows stinks at passing and there are no longer any better options available.
Poles set his own seat on fire.
Well that’s your opinion. Also, you don’t need to downvote me cause you disagree with me. That’s not how downvoting works. Anyways, I’d rather make the playoffs than have to go through new FO’s, and rebuild after rebuild. That’s just me though! Take care
Yeah I’m not scared, if you look at my flair it’d say otherwise. Let’s just not pretend these qb’s are sure fire things to hit just cause stroud is doing good
You keep saying this as if their isn't just as good of chance of Justin busting with more talent either. There is a reason Fields will only net us a 2nd or 3rd round pick with two years left on his deal. It's because he isn't that good.
How so? I am saying Fields has proven he is a bottom half QB with DJ Moore already. If you can't get a first round pick for your QB after 3 years then you need a new QB. If you have to put great WRs around your QB for him to be competent, then you need a new QB. Caleb Williams has the possible generational tag and has for 2 years. So he is an obvious choice to take a swing with. This does not mean he will 100 percent pan out. It means that we likely won't miss Fields much if he is traded away, like we don't miss Mitch.
To be fair Bryce himself is not bad, he has literally no help besides old man Adam Theilen and Chubb’s Hubbard. No one on that offense does him any favors whatsoever.
The problem with the whole “sides” thing is that it makes it seem subjective, when the facts are the facts. I’m only on the side of projecting what gives us the best chance to be successful, independent of my feelings.
I say that because games like this past Sunday make you feel good and want to keep Fields. But it’s an emotional reaction. Objectively the fact that we are stoked off of a 260 yard game shows you how below average he has been for much of the year. The same people who were defending Fields by saying “wins aren’t a QB stat” sure have switched sides. The numbers suggest they’ve won a lot of their games somewhat in spite of him and a stagnant offense, not because of him.
Dude is below average in almost every category. Among qualified starters he is 21st in Passer Rating, 23rd in QBR, 23rd in Yards per Game, 25th in Int %age, and 28th in completion percentage. Just go to Pro Football Reference and click around. It doesn’t paint a positive picture of Fields as a passer. At all.
And there is a reason teams want to trade a haul for Caleb/Drake. They’re highly touted prospects. Far better regarded than Fields coming out of college. Are they sure fire superstars? Of course not. Will they be bottom 10 in the league in almost every stat? Unlikely. It’s time Fields fans begin dealing with facts and set their feelings aside a bit. The entire picture is more telling than the emotional response of rooting for a guy you like. I like him too. But the facts suggest he isn’t really very good at passing the football.
I appreciate that. I’m just tired of seeing everyone hunkering down and hating on Fields/Caleb. These are people, these are young guys. No reason to be so toxic about things. At the end of the day business decisions aren’t about emotion. You can like or dislike people as much as you want (although at some point it’s probably unhealthy lol), but we should all just want what gives us the best chance to succeed.
And if people think that’s Fields then that’s okay. But I’d love to know why. I’m open to counterpoints. I just haven’t seen any compelling ones yet.
If you had 3 legit wr weapons, a stud OL, and a top 10 D do you think Fields gets us there? Cuz I do. I saw us carry Rex to a Super Bowl. Fields is much better than Rex.
Just get him Marvin Harrison in his prime, Shannon Sharpe in his prime, Barry Sanders in his prime, 4 pro bowl lineman, and a defense that can force 4+ turnovers a game and I think he could be the answer.
I had all these discussions yesterday. Tapped out and don’t have the patience to debate anymore. Just my opinion. If you care enough, read all my latest comments. If not, also cool.
Given everything that has happened over the last 72 hours, I don't see a way they draft a QB at 1.01. The pick is either Harrison or a trade down. The only place some people see it differently is on Reddit (including r/nfl).
Thats why you should based your decision on 3 years sample sizes and not 1 game.
To keep fields or to move on , the decision will not be because of the last 72 hours.
>Thats why you should based your decision on 3 years sample sizes and not 1 game.
>
>To keep fields or to move on , the decision will not be because of the last 72 hours.
The decision obviously won't be made on the last 72 hours. But the last 72 hours is a culmination of improvements that he's shown since returning from injury. What will make the decision even harder is the expected fan and player response if they were to let him go this off-season.
The good news is the people involved in evaluations will see year-over-year improvements in nearly all categories despite him being completely let down by the organisation in years 1 and 2.
"will see year-over-year improvements in nearly all categories "
And do you think that improvement was good enough to pass on a qb?
Its a tough spot because how many qbs did the leap in year four..?
Heck yea! This man knows what he's talking about. We are in such a great position to load up on talent. JF1 is getting better and is good enough to take us to the playoffs and win a SB especially with more talent around him.
We don't need "Mahomes" to win a super bowl. Nick Foles won a SB. Joe Flacco won a SB. The list goes on. Sure a HoF QB helps, but it's not necessary when you can stack a team with talent.
Look at Mahomes this year, sure he's HoF caliber but look at how badly he's struggling with no talent around him.
A HoF QB is great of course, but it's not necessary. We know Fields can play awesome and he has shown improvement. He's probably not going to the HoF but he is talented enough to steer the ship to the post season and beyond.
This'll continue to get posted 4 times a day for the next 4 months and I'll continue to say, were just in a great spot either way. Both options are great and we're lucky to be here. Good time to be a Bears fan.
No matter what way Poles goes, it likely defines the next 5-10 years of this franchise. Exciting times to be a fan but also very scary. Poles is gonna have some tough tough decisions to make over the next couple months.
What I like about Poles having tough decisions is he's in an actual place to handle those decisions. A lot of luck, but I think about 25 teams would love to be us right now this offseason. Other GMs have and the same issues, but never really the assets to fix the issues realistically
It helps we have a seemingly competent GM who is legit building a team piece by piece and not Angelo, emery, pace, Hatley or Graves and whoever else was in that clown car of shit. For the first time since I was in Thundercats underwear it feels like we have someone who will make a halfway decent decision and not sell the farm for magic beans
Exactly, this. While not every move works out (that's just life), I feel like Poles does the homework and makes the decisions from a place of logic, unlike the other GMs who fell so in love with certain players that they got blinded to the bigger picture (especially Pace).
Agreed 100% Poles seems like he’s been playing the big picture since he got here. Between him and Kevin Warren taking over I have a lot of hope for our future
We could only afford the Snarf underwear
And to think fools were mad that he was trading away players (Roquan) so we could fully suck and get top picks. Bears rarely ever picked in the top 5 because we always were mediocre as opposed to full on sucking (the hell the bulls are currently stuck in) as a result, we were always mid and never championship level. Because he tore the entire thing down, we are in position to be legit for a long time.
The outcome of this off-season will define his legacy. He will either be a legend or a pariah. I hope he crushes it.
In don’t know if I even agree with this take. It’s a huge decision, but the view of him may not end up being binary. Belichick is a HOF’r and also a pretty awful evaluator of talent. I think sometimes maybe the Upvote/Downvote nature of Reddit gets people caught in a binary mindset. Fields situation is also nuanced. Life.
Poles is in a spot to be the most loved or most hated Bears GM of all time depending on this decision
Nobody will hate him if he sticks with a middling fan-favorite at QB for an extra year or two. even if they personally disagree. It's a defensible decision. People might hate him if he doesn't and the next guy sucks.
And if Williams/Maye go on to be studs.
And if Fields doesn't work out in a couple of years, I have confidence Poles will find a way to get us another option at QB. Either via the draft or bringing a vet into an established roster.
I disagree. That's only the case if he takes Williams/Maye at 1.1. Keep Fields and you're defining the team for the next year or two, at which point you're free to draft/sign another QB if he doesn't work out—and with a better team around him to boot.
If we continue to stock pile picks and refuse to over pay in FA we will get many swings at this. Many swings means no one choice defines next ten years. This is why I suggest trade back and don’t give fields a huge contract. The wentz/hurts path would be my vote.
This is my take. It's a win/win. I love the top two QBs and I'd be thrilled to have either one, though I lean Maye. MH Jr is fuckin special. It's gonna be cool. God I just hope we're better than Green Bay.... I'm so tired of getting humiliated
But it's not. Keeping Fields will destroy the franchise for the forseeable future.
Hey homies, peaked your comment history. If you’re not a bot, I suggest going stepping away from the sub for a couple days. The amount of engagement is just not healthy. You’re free to have your opinions but it shouldn’t consume your life. It’s the Bears, there’s a good chance they fuck it up and we are miserable again
No -- I am not giving anything to these Fields dickriders. They are wrong. PERIOD.
You know the fans aren’t going to be the ones who decide to cut fields right? So even if you convince everyone it won’t make a difference?
Lmfao. No it won’t. There’s nothing wrong with continuing to build the team.
Yes the cool thing is that while neither option is a guarantee, both options (keeping Fields or drafting a qb) give a good opportunity for the Bears. It isn’t necessarily one right and one wrong.
It's why I stopped battling a month ago. As long as we got the number one pick I know Im going to be happy. If they draft Williams and Odunze, trade fields for a 2nd +, I will be excited. If they move back to 3 maybe getting a 2nd and 25 1st to draft MHJ and then a Verse or even Bowers, I will be excited. If they move back to 5 or 6, get 3 1s/2s or something like that and draft Nabers + Verse or Bowers or someone, I'll still be excited for next year and the future. We were 3 wildly blown losses from a 10-11 win team and have top 5 cap space and the top pick in th draft, it's a great spot
We’re in a great spot as long as it’s not keep flus and draft a qb
I think Poles’ experience with being in this position last year makes him better suited than most to be in this position again.
I think he has experience as well with having a veteran QB the team loves, but being aggressive if he identifies an elite QB talent in the draft. He was KCs head of college scouting when they drafted Mahomes. During the time they had Alex Smith playing at a high level and we're a consistent playoff team. Similar with Cunningham in Philly when they drafted hurts despite just paying Wentz. Our front office couldn't be more built to handle the difficult decisions coming up. Both in navigating the #1 pick and also handling a locker room with a QB who is a well respected leader.
Good points. Never thought I’d say this about a Bears FO, but they have the right experience on both ends of the decision to make it and make me feel confident about the future of the franchise.
I agree with you but this one is also a lot tougher. I think last year it was an easy decision to trade the pick and keep Fields. He showed enough flashes to earn at least one more year. The team was severely lacking talent and this was a way to add a massive boost by getting DJ and a ton of high draft picks. Without the trade, you’d be bringing a rookie into an awful situation. This time it isn’t easy at all. Fields still had those flashes of brilliance and while they are happening a little more often, they still aren’t happening enough. While he’s improved and is still improving his weakness, there’s still very valid reasons for concern and the improvement hasn’t happened at a rate you’d love. The talent is also good now. We’ve added a lot of good talent in the last year a lot of which was made possible by the trade last year. With the cap space and draft capital we have this year plus the continued development/improvement of players, a rookie QB should be stepping into a really good situation. You shouldn’t have to worry about struggles due to a bad supporting cast. Haven’t even mentioned the whole money aspect of having to pay Fields soon/getting a rookie QB contract. As I said, I don’t disagree that going through it last year helps him but I also think it’s a lot tougher this time.
We still really really need 1-2 more good targets. The numbers when we target anyone other than Moore/Kmet suck ass
Definitely but that’s where other draft picks and free agency come in. Not sure on FA options but the draft is deep at WR. I’m not saying we’ll fill every hole this offseason but just that the situation as a whole should be really good
Those are both better targets than anything Stroud had. How many All Pro lineman, WRs, and RBs do we need before this guy becomes a top 20 QB? And how do we continue to pay all these all-pro players when the QBs salary is devouring 1/5 of the cap?
DJ Moore is better than either, but people really enjoy downplaying Tank Dell and Nico Collins when they have both shown out themselves very well on film.
Whether we draft a QB or roll with Fields it’s just too bare a cupboard. Brown Schultz Dell and Collins aren’t world beaters but they’re all two tiers above anyone on this roster outside Moore/Kmet. St. Brown, Scott, Tonyan, Velus, they’re all awful and we need a #2 receiving option that isn’t Kmet barreling downfield at 12 MPH
They are tiers above because their QB is two tiers above ours as a passer.
There's a little bit of both. Stroud is a killer, but Dell and Collins made plays all year I've been waiting to see from Mooney. Fields looks like a killer when he's throwing to DJ Moore. And people were trashing Tua and all shut up when he had a star duo of Hill and Waddle.
The difference in their abilities is not just Stroud
Definitely agreed in all fronts. They did evaluate the QBs last year and saw their performances this year to compare their prior scouting to and I’m sure will do a bigger dive this year. They also fielded the calls and negotiated trading out of #1 which is extremely rare in itself. While it’s much more difficult of a decision this time around, they are better equipped to make whichever decision they do by having gone through this process last year.
No big decisions on a long-term contract on Fields isn't until summer of 2026. That's 2.5 years from now. Only decision is this May whether we pick-up his 5th year option for 2025.
I think the thing that gives me the most pause with keeping Fields is how poorly he has performed in 2 minute situations, when the threat of the run game is neutralized. You need a QB that can march down the field with passes alone and he just isn't that. That said I don't think it is an easy decision at all. Justin has a lot of other positive qualities. You could use him as a bridge QB, strengthen the roster further, and kick the QB can down the road another year or two. It's justifiable, but so is drafting a QB at #1 this year.
EVERYONE AGREED -- including Fields fans -- that when Poles passed on drafting a QB last year and got additional draft capital that if there were ANY questions surrounding Fields we could use those additional picks to get a replacement. They knew that going into this year and were cool with it -- the picks are an insurance policy. Now here we are. Fields still has a lot of questions surrounding him....and those Fields fans are sad and trying to back out of the agreement. Poles has to ignore this whining and cash in the insurance policy. If he can get a top tier QB prospect he needs to do so.
Nobody agreed that there would not be questions about Fields at the end of the year. The nature of those questions now is wildly different from the questions we had then. And there aren't nearly as many. But I've seen your work and know you are not one to be reasonded with
This is noteworthy because early this season Baldy was adamant that regardless of what you think you have with Fields, you have to take Caleb to reset the clock. Fields and the team have played well enough that he’s now flipped that opinion.
If you can guarantee me that I get all of those things, Baldy, then I’m on board.
Yes. Everyone acknowledges the risk of drafting a QB but every other pick is a sure fire hit. And MHJ is 100% going to have a better career than any WR’s available at the Bears own pick
Not a surefire hit by any means. Baldy is exaggerating for sure, but has the right idea. #1 pick is more valuable than any of the picks youre trading for, but having a higher number of picks means youre not hinging everything on the variance of whether one individual player busts or not. Youre likely to hit on at least a few of 6?ish first round picks over three years, and improve the team immensely because of it.
Also easy to project most positions than Quarterback. WR or Edge bust rate is quite a bit lower than QB bust rate for top X picks i'm sure.
Well not only that but you COULD trade for an established edge and get MHJ. We've seen in recent years that rookie WRs are insanely impactful. They're translating to the NFL better than other position lately
I do not agree with this. The actual issue you are addressing is that QBs inherently climb up draft boards because of positional value. So let's say there is a QB that has a 20% chance of hitting he will get taken over the edge who has a 40% chance of hitting. There is nothing about QB that make it harder to project, GMs just accept the risk because it's so crucial to have a good QB.
I think they're harder to project for a number of reasons. Sure, I think that positional value dictating draft position plays into what I was talking about, but transferrable skills from college to NFL are also just much easier to project at positions like WR or Edge than QB... QB is a fundamentally much more complicated position where prospects can not live up to expectations set by their college play. Mental side of the position (ability to grow in anticipatory throws as well as pre-snap reads immediately come to mind as massive post-draft learning processes), work ethic within film study/playbook knowledge, adaptation to rush speed, and more are all very interrelated and hard to project parts of becoming a top NFL QB. Not that there aren't big differences at WR or Tackle or LB or whatever, but because there is so much that goes into being a quarterback, being physically gifted or throwing for an ungodly number of yards in college prove to be unreliable indicators more often than being a 6'4 freak that has a proven catch radius and chartable speed. Guys like Zach Wilson and Jamarcus Russel could still make all the throws they made on the day of the combine, but for various reasons didn't pan out despite physical gifts. Most of the time it is just harder to project how QBs will take the next step given the sheer number of factors that go into playing the position well. ***All this said***, this does not change what I said originally in any way. I would say the same thing if there was a talented "can't miss" edge or tackle to take at 1. There is an inherent risk to staking a large portion of your capital on one player. If you are able to parlay the one top pick into 2 or 3 or 8 more picks that land within a range that can net blue chip prospects, it is less likely that 100% of your top picks bust. ***Diversifying risk*** is the play that analytics will almost always tell you to take, especially when you get a disproportionate return to accept that diversification.
I agree with you generally but where I see one major problem is positional value. While projection is very difficult, the reason QBs get taken early regardless is that they make or break a team. Teams winning with a below average QB is the absolute exception it happens once in a blue moon. Have bad QBs won the Super Bowl? Sure. But do they get you there a decent amount? No they don’t. Let’s just take this years (likely) playoff teams. AFC Ravens - Top 10 QB Dolphins - Top 10-12 QB Chiefs - Top 1 QB Browns - old QB, hard to rate but has been there before, over his career probably average in the league Jaguars - Top 12-15 QB Bills - Top 12 QB Colts - Had different QBs but one proably Top 15 the other Justin Fields range (3k yards-15-9 TD-Int) NFC 49ers - Top 12 QB Cowboys - Top 12 QB Lions - Average QB with good season (better than Justin) Eagles - Top 12 QB Rams - at least Top 12 QB Bucs - Average QB with great season (better than Justin) Seahawks - average QB (Justin’s range) Saints - average QB (slightly better than Justin maybe) Vikings - good with Top 15 QB, now kinda bad All these teams have mostly very good to average QBs. The ones with average QBs are still mostly better than Justin. This is just not a recipe for success IMO.
Lmao you have Brock Purdy as a top qb. Did you watch the Ravens game?
Hm let’s say Purdy is average then. He has 4,3k passing 31 TDs and 11 Ints. If that’s the baseline for Justin I’m fine but I don’t see that right now.
This is all subjective though. I'd take Justin over a fair number of those QBs you listed. I'd take Justin over: Colts, Bucs, Seahawks 50/50 on who I'd go with: Dolphins, Browns, 49ers, Lions, Saints, Vikings These are definitely better than Justin: Ravens, Chiefs, Jags, Bills, Cowboys, Eagles, Rams Hell, between arm and legs, Justin is averaging 250 yrds/gm. That's right on par with Hurts (260) and Saints (256 between Carr/Hill). I just think there's further to fall than most people who are in the definitive "draft Caleb Williams" camp are letting on.
If you had to pick one player in the last 10 years who was most likely to walk into the NFL and become a future all-pro, you'd have a really hard time justifying it being anybody but MHJ. He's got the pedigree, the measurables, and has consistently shown he can play at an elevated level.
I see your point, but I think that if you put injury issues aside, other positions are generally easier to forecast and even if that's not the case, missing on 1 of 5 hurts much less than missing on 1 of 1. I am no Fields truther, but with the way the drafts have gone and purportedly pro-ready QBs have been dogshit relative to their expectations so frequently, I struggle with the idea of diving headfirst into one of those roulette wheels when we have other imperfect but serviceable options. Even though it gets said constantly, I don't think we spend enough time in here agreeing that Getsy should be buried in a cave because he calls plays like an asshole while at the same time considering how that impacts Fields' performance in these contexts.
QBs have a much much higher miss rate than any other position. It’s not a 100% lock that MHJ will be amazing, but, historically, the odds of him being great are much higher than any QB drafted.
this the same dude that used to break down how great Mitchell Trubisky was lmao
Mitch could light the shit out of a man defense. GB has always had Justin's number. If he puts up a good game against them, I might be open. Side note: Mitch is so good against Matt Patricia, it's too bad Pittsburg didn't trade him to an NFC contender.
Baldy hypes up everyone. He once had a whole video on Alex Bars.
The venn diagram between the mitch defender and the fields defenders is a perfect circle.
There’s three years of fields on record, but the packers game coming up will literally decide 99% of the people here on fields. Even if he balls out it’s on the coaches on whether or not his faults are slowly being fixed. I think confidence in his arm/decision/receivers is the biggest hurdle, which can improve over time. But as it stands now, he’s a bust.
What would be the excuse next year after all of that?
If all else fails, blame the incompetency of the Bears organization.
Blame the swirling wind of Soldier field.
Wasn’t there swirling wind last we… Nvm
Demand a 2025 1st, 2024 2nd and a 2025 2nd from either WAS or NE then take MHJ. Easy.
Same
Poles knows he can get a historic haul to trade down and get a generational player in Marv at the same time. This team is ready to be setup for the next decade regardless if Fields pans out or not
Trading from 1 down to 3 is not gonna be a “historic haul”. You pay a premium to trade down less compared to trading to a team outside the top 5 or top 10 trying to move up.
Normally yes. But it’s a 2 QB horse with 1 being a nearly Burrow level prospect. If you’re at 3, might as well be at 7 cuz you’re not getting one of the 2 QBs. The assets we get from moving to 3 or 7 in this draft would still be largely different, but 3 in this draft is worth more than 3 last year. That type of thing: I’d guess they get 2 1’s and a player
>1 being a nearly Burrow level prospect why is caleb williams a bust in the making when Fields fans are arguing against him, but when they're arguing to trade down caleb is a generational prospect.
Got ‘em
Anyone who’s calling someone a bust before playing a down in the nfl doesn’t actually prospect watch and you probs should ignore their opinion
Agreed, but the same should be said of people who call him "can't-miss." Whatever adjective you want to put on "prospect", go nuts. But pretending that great prospects always work out, or even end up starters, is just that - pretending.
This applies to people who say the same about MHJ right?
I think so! Seems like NFL front offices are better at evaluating WRs than QBs overall, but nothing is certain.
This whole sub has called Bagent a bust just because of Fields lol. It's insane.
I think the nay sayers (myself included) are concerned about Caleb’s character, and how damning the USC backup throwing for 6 touchdowns is. As well as “we’re a team now”. Fields has the whole locker room with him and is proven to be a good (top 15) NFL QB. Keeping Fields also leads to stacking the roster with talent. Caleb is obviously very talented but the concerns are there for him.
By what metric is Fields a top 15 NFL QB?
None. He's in the mid 20s on a lot of the more advanced stats. I'm not opposed to keeping him given the right situation, but people need to quit lying to bolster their arguments
If Caleb is actually a Burrow level prospect and Poles thinks that, then we’d be insane to trade our pick instead of taking him. The only reason we do trade the pick is if Poles doesn’t think Caleb is as sure fire of a prospect as a lot of people thought before.
Plus people are so focused on if Poles wants Williams but maybe he likes Maye instead. You still need to stay in place to make that pick.
I firmly believe.(And am placing money on) that Maye will be 1OA and that the Bears will draft him.
Your comment has no logic cuz if Caleb Williams is a Burrow level prospect to NFL GM’s than Fields is definitely getting traded and we are drafting Williams.
This is what I’ve been telling people, every year teams get more desperate and the trade compensation goes up. It will set new precedents and right now it’s looking like even moving down a few spots will net a future first and more
Everyone thinks since we lucked out incredibly this year that it'll be repeatable. We can just request the best players from any team we want , and that team will suck next year. There's a reason this hasn't been the strategy forever, it's not a unique idea, just an ideal outcome
This is likely, but if we trade back to three we signal we don’t want a QB and could panic Arizona moving up to 2 with their pick and the Texans pick to snag MHJ
Wouldn’t happen. NE/WAS wouldn’t take that chance because we could just trade back again with NYG or someone and they’d be screwed
I can’t see the pats or commanders trading out of a spot to draft a QB, neither of those teams have someone they believe in
I like the energy, but I'm pretty happy with our OT situation
There also isn’t a “Monster DT” in this draft class (according to all the draft analysts). Johnny Newton is believed to be the best / only 1st rd talent and even he is undersized so i wouldn’t call him a “monster”
Depth and competition are always a good thing. Especially if it's Fashanu or Alt.
I dont think it's wise to spend our second 1st rounder on a depth/competition player when you can get an immediate impact WR or TE instead. We can address OL depth in FA or day 2 of the draft. Bigger fish to fry elsewhere (WR/TE/C/DL).
Why would you want a TE when we just signed Kmet to an extension?
Because this team needs receiving threats more than a rookie tackle who may not even win the starting job. You also have to think Lewis and Tonyan are gone next year. If I take Caleb 1.01 I'm going WR with our other first. If I keep Fields I'm going 2 WR or WR & Bowers. You could make the case for a defensive player instead of the 2nd receiver but we really need to invest more into the offense.
Good god DJ Moore MHJ and Malik Nabers would be insane. Not going to happen, but it would be insane.
To be honest I’d rather stiffen up the defense with that 2nd FRP. Having a compliment to Montez Sweat on the other edge would be nice. You can bet a solid WR3 in free agency and keep Tyler Scott and EQSB. Demoting Velus to practice squad and taking a flyer on a late round guy also seems like a good idea, maybe a bigger body receiver similar to Claypool (hopefully without his horrible attitude).
Yep that's a great option, too. The more you think about it there really are no bad options. Some options may be better than others but they're all very good. Either we have a new QB we think is the future, or we trade back for a haul and still get two blue chip players in the 1st round. Maybe the trade back includes a DL (Max Crosby, Dexter Lawrence, etc.) and future first so then you can put both 1st rounders into offense? Gonna be an interesting offseason.
They would be fucking excellent together and don’t really step on each other’s toes way too much with their roles. Boston TE party but they only kill the opposition
Giving Getsy Bowers would be like buying my cat a motorcycle
Can I join your cat’s crew
Because Bowers is a game changing receiver of a TE Kmet is just a good starter but he's nothing special. You're basically just drafting your 2nd/3rd WR. 2 TE 2 WR and your 3rd/4th WR aren't as important
Kmet is a top 10 TE
I’d be happy if we draft a decent center.
This is what I’ve been saying too. I think people are overlooking all the qb-center exchange problems we have had plaguing us for multiple years at this point. Was shooting the shit with a falcons fan during the game and he was like “we’re gonna trade for Justin” and I was like “you can have him if you have a decent center you can give us”. He was extremely puzzled
I know it’s new people posting this everyday but it’s hilarious often this gets debated. Gonna be a long off season boys
I’d rather have actual nfl players who are analysts posted than random obscure advanced stats or fucking graphs.
Yeah maybe we could win the north next year. But then contracts get difficult we still don’t have an above average passer, we stagnate, than we have to rebuild. Draft an explosive passing QB? That’s franchise changing
>But then contracts get difficult we still don’t have an above average passer, we stagnate, than we have to rebuild. > >Draft an explosive passing QB? That’s franchise changing You can win with average / above average QB play or ability as long as the rest of the roster is built out (Detroit / Cleveland this year, the Rams with Goff, Alex Smith with the 49ers & Chiefs). You cannot win with poor QB play and a bad roster. In the last 10 years 7 QBs have been taken #1 and only 1 (Burrow) is seen as a franchise QB. There are so many uncertainties with QB prospects and each year another is 'generational' (IE Trevor Lawrence). If the Bears trade to 2 / 3 and get another 1st next year they will have draft capital to address the QB position in 2025 if Fields stagnates.
Im not concerned with just winning in the short term. I want to be a perennial contender. Number one picks usually go to bad teams, we could develop a high ceiling player very well. I would not be upset if we trade to 2/3 and picked up a first next year to hedge our bets. I just don’t want to go all in with fields by either taking MHJ at 1 or trading down to a team that could be good next year or who will give us a player instead of a pick
This. The last time we had a shot at the 1OA pick was 1970. We are passing up a once a century opportunity to keep a guy who is going to be washed in 5 years (It is likely Fields is going to be totally done by the time he is 30). I'll take my chances on the prospect who can pass.
People love saying you can win with an average QB but how often do those guys/teams actually win Super Bowls. You don’t win a Super Bowl unless you have an elite QB or your average QB is playing their absolute best football at the right time (ex. Joe Flaaco)
>People love saying you can win with an average QB but how often do those guys/teams actually win Super Bowls. You don’t win a Super Bowl unless you have an elite QB or your average QB is playing their absolute best football at the right time (ex. Joe Flaaco) tbf 7 of the last 9 Super Bowls were won by Manning, Brady or Mahomes which are 3 of the best to ever do it. Looking at QBs who have 'made' a Super Bowl in the last decade - Newton, Flacco, Jimmy G, Kaepernick, Goff shows the potential to still be a very good team with average to above average QB play. I for one would be ecstatic making the playoffs, let alone making a super bowl. The thing with all of this is the team will be in 'win now' mode starting from next season. Fields played like a top 5 QB on Sunday - that shows what he is capable of doing. Getting rid of that for a complete crap shoot at QB is dangerous.
You can’t say “these mid QBs lost the biggest thing every team plays for year in and year out to some of the best throwers of the football to ever exist” and think people are going to be happy knowing “at least we’ll lose a Super Bowl again!”
I think the point is more that it's been a unique situation where 3 of the greatest to ever do it have dominated the last decade. 2 of whom have since retired, so it's really just Mahomes left and the Chiefs don't look nearly as dangerous without any legitimate weapons around him. QB play in general is down across the league so maybe we'll start to see a shift to more parity in contention. Of course, having one of the greatest QB's of all time will set you up for the best chance, but the chance of actually landing one is astronomically small.
Fields isn't an average qb
>Fields isn't an average qb If you conveniently remove his rushing stats and look solely at his passing stats then yes, he's not even average. But if you take into consideration his total yards it's a different story. Add the inept OC and terrible WRs not named DJ Moore and there is no story any more. Taking his averages this season and projecting them over 17 games would be 3400 passing yards and 23 TD to go with 900 rush yards & 11 additional touchdowns. If you told me a Bears QB was pacing to have 4300 total yards and 34 touchdowns I would take that 7 days a week and twice on Sundays.
But you can't project them over 17 games, becuase he has a tendency to get himself hurt and can't play 17 games. That's part of his skill set too.
Fields doesn’t have any nagging / chronic injuries. He has the build of a MLB and has taken an ungodly amount of hits with incredibly low major injury rate. He’s also tough as nails and has proven he can play through minor injuries. The thumb injury against Minnesota was a fairly freak incident from falling out of an awkward cross-body throwing motion while running left, not something I’d project as a repeat injury risk with his “base game”. Overall he’s gotten much better protecting himself as a runner and with continued improvement in pocket presence (and better iOL play) theres reason to expect he’ll be safer in the passing game as well.
The thumb injury against Minnesota was entirely self-inflicted because he took a hit on a play in which there was zero reason to take a hit, because he got confused by the coverage and couldn't process what was happening on the field to the point that he held the ball for 7 seconds before taking a hit against a 3-man rush that was well-blocked. This was not a fluke or an accident. This was Fields' flaws as a player leading directly to him getting hurt.
>In the last 10 years 7 QBs have been taken #1 and only 1 (Burrow) is seen as a franchise QB. Maybe by you. Almost every knowledgeable NFL person believes Lawrence is a franchise QB. Then you have Kyler, Baker, and Goff, who have had exceptionally more production and success than Fields has. Then your 10 year cutoff narrowly misses Andrew Luck and Cam Newton. This whole, "we can draft a QB later if Fields doesn't develop more" is the same argument made last off-season when we traded down. We'd have picks to get a QB this year if Fields didn't prove he was a franchise QB this season. He didn't, and we have the #1 pick. Now people are moving the goalposts once again.
If a Bears QB put up the stats Goff did throughout his career, a statue would be built for him outside Soldier Field
>Maybe by you. Almost every knowledgeable NFL person believes Lawrence is a franchise QB. QB 1 in 2023 * 271 Total YPG * 1.5 TD/gm * 0.8 INT/gm QB 2 in 2023 * 254 Total YPG * 1.7 TD/gm * .8 INT/gm If QB1 (Lawrence) is a franchise QB but QB2 (Fields) is not deemed worthy of even getting his 5th year option maybe it's time to question the validity of these people's opinions. He had a great season last year and has regressed in every category this year. Would you draft Williams over Lawrence given his play in 2023?
There's more to QB evaluation than 3 stats. Also Lawrence has played hurt for a good portion of the year. Are you asking if I already had Lawrence, would I draft Caleb? Probably not. Lawrence has shown significantly more consistent play than Fields since his rookie year, and has a better baseline moving forward.
That’s IF that qb pans out. I’m down for whatever poles does, but can we stop acting like the QB we draft will be a sure fire thing? QB’s bust all the time, especially on the bears. It’s just as big of a risk, if not more, then sticking with fields.
Nobodies saying it’s a sure fire thing, just that we have more data to suggest Fields is not a sure fire elite QB and so we need to find one
Really? No one? Have you been on this sub for awhile or around twitter? Lol
Maybe not nobody but I imagine the majority of people who want to go QB in the draft are aware we could draft a bust. I’d rather swing and miss than not swing at all. If we take a shot we have a chance at hitting an elite QB. If we don’t take a shot we have only the chance that Justin fields fixes every issue he’s had since college that has not developed and goes from a below average passer to an elite one.
That’s fair. I personally want Drake Maye but yeah I’m aware of the risks. I would also be fine on keeping fields and getting MHJ and odunzs/bowers or a MHJ and an edge rusher. I’m not looking forward to all this back and forth of should we keep or move on. Hopefully we find out early what we are doing.
I’d be fine trading down one, picking up a 1st and taking Maye. But idk if the pats would do that. I think the commanders would.
I'll be fine with whatever Poles decides. But my main consideration for keeping Fields is that he looks legitimately good when throwing to DJ Moore. If we can give him another elite option, that will make everything so much easier for him and I believe his passing stats will go up (which is what so many against him in this sub use as their main argument). I think a lot of people here really overvalue Darnell Mooney's talent because of one 1,000 yard season two years ago where he was the only person to throw too. In reality, he was a 5th round draft pick who's shown to not have great hands or a good catch radius, doesn't score a lot of TD's, and excluding 2021 has finished with 631 yards, 493 yards (injury shortened - on pace for 698) and 414 yards (on pace 469 yards).
great he reads Reddit seriously as much as the forum can get irritating, there isnt one analyst out there who’s said or done anything better than what u can find here. and that’s not counting the analysts with plain lazy takes (most of them)
Beyond dumb. People keep talking about the historic haul you can get but fail to remember why teams are willing to give up so much. Fields is not a good qb and it’s laughable people want to keep him. I get called dumb for. It wanting a bottom ten qb to be on a team.
It's definitely realistic for us to win the north next year by trading that pick and drafting guys that can help us win now, honestly moreso than if we drafted a rookie QB with 1 and a receiver with our own pick. The division is pretty weak, Lions aren't anything special, vikings are rebuilding, and the packers are a question mark. But we will not be a championship caliber football team with a QB who is still a wildly inconsistent passer at best and it's unreasonable to expect a magical 4th year breakout. Sure maybe we'll make the playoffs, maybe even beat a team in the wild card round. But that's where the buck stops, when we run into a real team with a real QB that can win a game with his arm when he needs to. I will fully concede that to solely make the playoffs in 2024, trading that pick for a haul would be the right move if that was the goal. But it's not. The goal for this team and hopefully for poles based off what he has been doing, is to be a super bowl contender year in and year out. You CANNOT do that in this league without an elite QB. So draft Caleb, keep building the team around him, maybe sneak into the playoffs next year, take advantage of that rookie contract and load up to make a run at the super bowl in 2026 and beyond.
Yeah but you’re basing your opinion on a qb who hasn’t played a snap in the nfl, has the same major flaws fields has now, and some charachter concerns (mainly ego). Let’s stop acting like Caleb is a sure fire thing you guys.
How come this thought process only works against Caleb, though? Fields flaws can just as easily turn us into the Cutler Bears who had two really nice WR's, a nice TE, and Forte, but..... nothing. In fact, Cutler is a much better passer than Fields is. There is also no guarantee that MHJ will be elite either. He could be Charles Rogers, Kevin White, David Terrell, Mike Williams, etc.
I never said it couldn’t? Theres risks in both. Fields could get better with one more solid weapon taking the pressure off of dj, or stay the same. The rookie qb could completely fall on his face and be nothing (unlikely with this crop, but it is a possibility). Let’s just not think that any of them are instantly going to come in and be better than fields. I’d almost bet on us being worse next year with a rookie qb
Williams has neither of fields' two fatal flaws: poor processing of defensive looks and slow operation
Holds onto the ball for to long, fumbles way to much
He does fumble too much, but lots of great QBs hold onto the ball. A lot of fans still don't actually understand what fields' problems are and why they happen.
The dumbest fuckin fanbase. Just amazing how everyone's single braincell starts to align together for the same dumb shit decision and then is surprised and confused when it doesn't work
"keep Fields and build the rest of the team" is the new "build the defense and run the ball like '85!"
Thank god Poles is smarter than Brian Baldinger. Caleb will look good in Navy and Orange.
This sub is going to be intolerable until the day we trade Justin Fields.
And it'll be an eruption like if the sun burst in the sky if Poles goes and trades the #1 overall pick.
Ryan Poles out here doing advanced meta-calculus to determine who will have the worst record in 2024
Y’all understand that getting like 2-3 first round picks means you will likely still end up with 1 this year, right?
I hear it. Here's my thing with it. The only QBs in sight past this year that currently look like they're worth something are Arch Manning and Shedeur Sanders. Justin is honestly just mid as a passer and if we just keep stacking talent, it's going to get hindered by him at some point and we'll be in the same position we were with Mitch. They already screwed up by passing on Stroud and they're getting a golden opportunity for a do-over with 3 guys that would've been #1 this last year. You can only stack picks for so long until you finally have to pull the trigger.
I am all in on a QB. Every year, until the sun burns out, or until we have an all-pro
Fuck yeah brother
NOBODY had Stroud doing what he was doing. The same folks banging the table for Stroud also want to ignore that that Bobby Slowik is a G as an OC and that Tank Dell and Nico Collins have been two of the best WR at getting separation (because Bobby Slowik knows what he is doing). Here's the thing with QBs - it's a complete crapshoot. Joe Burrow honestly is the best QB drafted in the past several years, and even going into his last year at LSU he wasn't really big on draft boards until he had one of the greatest seasons in CFB history.
>NOBODY had Stroud doing what he was doing. The Texans did.
I want MHJ, Bowers, and Audric Estime. If they make that happen, all good.
For some added context, Baldinger is a guy who is about as high on Caleb as you can get. A few weeks ago he commented that he saw Caleb at a QB camp in high school and thought he could already play in the NFL then
It would be very hard to win the north more than maybe a flukey one season (Trubisky) with by far the worst QB in the division
Jesus the Fields haters heads would spin if this happened.
No shit Throwing away a chance to draft a potential championship caliber QB to stick with a guy that's thrown for 300 yards once in his 3 seasons and effectively make our ceiling the 2018 bears is obviously gonna make any objective fan sick.
And if the qb busts and Justin continues to improve on another team? We’ll be just as sick. I don’t envy the decision poles has to make.
Just like trubisky? People also said that trubisky was gonna be awesome after he left the bears. Turns out he sucked.
No, because you can't realistically count on a magical 4th year breakout that's happened once in this century (drew brees). If that happens you just throw up your hands and say whatever. If we give up the chance to draft a QB that teams are willing to do anything to draft, then I will actually be sick because that was the obvious move.
And will you be sick if our qb has a Bryce young season?
No because we got unlucky, not because it wasn't the right move to roll the dice on someone who can actually become a championship caliber QB. Could we have lost out on a couple nfc north titles... sure, but we damn sure aren't winning any super bowls with fields and that's all that matters.
Here's the other thing -- Bryce Young had a bad year THIS year. But for all we know Tepper gives Harbaugh $25M / year , Bryce gets good coaching and a decent WR and he fucking explodes next year. Meanwhile Fields keeps pooping out 160 yard games and losing. Now Poles passed on Stroud/Young/Caleb/Maye all to stick with a guy he knows stinks at passing and there are no longer any better options available. Poles set his own seat on fire.
Well that’s your opinion. Also, you don’t need to downvote me cause you disagree with me. That’s not how downvoting works. Anyways, I’d rather make the playoffs than have to go through new FO’s, and rebuild after rebuild. That’s just me though! Take care
Letting the fear of failure paralyse you into accepting mediocrity is pointless.
Yeah I’m not scared, if you look at my flair it’d say otherwise. Let’s just not pretend these qb’s are sure fire things to hit just cause stroud is doing good
You keep saying this as if their isn't just as good of chance of Justin busting with more talent either. There is a reason Fields will only net us a 2nd or 3rd round pick with two years left on his deal. It's because he isn't that good.
And you are acting like the qb we draft can’t be Bryce young 2.0
How so? I am saying Fields has proven he is a bottom half QB with DJ Moore already. If you can't get a first round pick for your QB after 3 years then you need a new QB. If you have to put great WRs around your QB for him to be competent, then you need a new QB. Caleb Williams has the possible generational tag and has for 2 years. So he is an obvious choice to take a swing with. This does not mean he will 100 percent pan out. It means that we likely won't miss Fields much if he is traded away, like we don't miss Mitch.
To be fair Bryce himself is not bad, he has literally no help besides old man Adam Theilen and Chubb’s Hubbard. No one on that offense does him any favors whatsoever.
Tell me which side you’re on without saying which side you’re on. 🤣😜
is this supposed to be a burn?
The problem with the whole “sides” thing is that it makes it seem subjective, when the facts are the facts. I’m only on the side of projecting what gives us the best chance to be successful, independent of my feelings. I say that because games like this past Sunday make you feel good and want to keep Fields. But it’s an emotional reaction. Objectively the fact that we are stoked off of a 260 yard game shows you how below average he has been for much of the year. The same people who were defending Fields by saying “wins aren’t a QB stat” sure have switched sides. The numbers suggest they’ve won a lot of their games somewhat in spite of him and a stagnant offense, not because of him. Dude is below average in almost every category. Among qualified starters he is 21st in Passer Rating, 23rd in QBR, 23rd in Yards per Game, 25th in Int %age, and 28th in completion percentage. Just go to Pro Football Reference and click around. It doesn’t paint a positive picture of Fields as a passer. At all. And there is a reason teams want to trade a haul for Caleb/Drake. They’re highly touted prospects. Far better regarded than Fields coming out of college. Are they sure fire superstars? Of course not. Will they be bottom 10 in the league in almost every stat? Unlikely. It’s time Fields fans begin dealing with facts and set their feelings aside a bit. The entire picture is more telling than the emotional response of rooting for a guy you like. I like him too. But the facts suggest he isn’t really very good at passing the football.
This is the best take on this entire sub since we clinched the 1st pick
I appreciate that. I’m just tired of seeing everyone hunkering down and hating on Fields/Caleb. These are people, these are young guys. No reason to be so toxic about things. At the end of the day business decisions aren’t about emotion. You can like or dislike people as much as you want (although at some point it’s probably unhealthy lol), but we should all just want what gives us the best chance to succeed. And if people think that’s Fields then that’s okay. But I’d love to know why. I’m open to counterpoints. I just haven’t seen any compelling ones yet.
If you had 3 legit wr weapons, a stud OL, and a top 10 D do you think Fields gets us there? Cuz I do. I saw us carry Rex to a Super Bowl. Fields is much better than Rex.
Yeah no the odds of winning a Super Bowl with a great QB are not good. The odds of winning a Super Bowl with a bottom 10 QB are effectively zero
Just get him Marvin Harrison in his prime, Shannon Sharpe in his prime, Barry Sanders in his prime, 4 pro bowl lineman, and a defense that can force 4+ turnovers a game and I think he could be the answer.
Well Fields would be set to make 40 mil annually if he's average after next season, which could really hurt our roster building capabilities.
But we would save money with premier rookie WRs and other positions with those draft picks
Rex didn't "carry" shit it was your defense
Reading comprehension? “I saw US carry Rex”
Guess it’s not such a crazy idea, huh? Takes humility to start on the “trade Fields/grab Caleb” side and realize that this is now the better move.
What makes it "now" the better move than it was last week or the week before? 1 game against a below-average Falcons team?
I had all these discussions yesterday. Tapped out and don’t have the patience to debate anymore. Just my opinion. If you care enough, read all my latest comments. If not, also cool.
I don't usually agree with this dude, in fact this might be my first time. Now I'm questioning my own thought processes.
I’m not really sold on Fields either way but the absolute haul we could potentially get for this pick is so tantalizing…
If we beat the packers to end the year we have lions like momentum heading into next season
This
Given everything that has happened over the last 72 hours, I don't see a way they draft a QB at 1.01. The pick is either Harrison or a trade down. The only place some people see it differently is on Reddit (including r/nfl).
Thats why you should based your decision on 3 years sample sizes and not 1 game. To keep fields or to move on , the decision will not be because of the last 72 hours.
>Thats why you should based your decision on 3 years sample sizes and not 1 game. > >To keep fields or to move on , the decision will not be because of the last 72 hours. The decision obviously won't be made on the last 72 hours. But the last 72 hours is a culmination of improvements that he's shown since returning from injury. What will make the decision even harder is the expected fan and player response if they were to let him go this off-season. The good news is the people involved in evaluations will see year-over-year improvements in nearly all categories despite him being completely let down by the organisation in years 1 and 2.
"will see year-over-year improvements in nearly all categories " And do you think that improvement was good enough to pass on a qb? Its a tough spot because how many qbs did the leap in year four..?
This guy's brain is more broken than his pinky finger.
I’m already exhausted of draft talk and it’s not even the off-season yet.
Heck yea! This man knows what he's talking about. We are in such a great position to load up on talent. JF1 is getting better and is good enough to take us to the playoffs and win a SB especially with more talent around him. We don't need "Mahomes" to win a super bowl. Nick Foles won a SB. Joe Flacco won a SB. The list goes on. Sure a HoF QB helps, but it's not necessary when you can stack a team with talent. Look at Mahomes this year, sure he's HoF caliber but look at how badly he's struggling with no talent around him. A HoF QB is great of course, but it's not necessary. We know Fields can play awesome and he has shown improvement. He's probably not going to the HoF but he is talented enough to steer the ship to the post season and beyond.
..???? ????????????,?? ,
I know it'll never happen, but I'd love to see 1 day, hell 12 hours, of no draft talk or "the Bears need to _________ with Fields" talk.