The Chicago Bears have landed the No.1 overall pick for the first time since 1947. That’s 75 years, and what the Bears do with the pick will go a long way in determining how their rebuild under GM Ryan Poles, head coach Matt Eberflus and franchise quarterback Justin Fields will go.
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The growing sentiment around Halas Hall is Fields is their quarterback going forward and they won’t look to draft Alabama’s Bryce Young or Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, the two top signal-callers in the upcoming 2023 draft.
And while, Poles and the Bears brass have been rather coy about their intentions, others have made their feelings known as to how they believe things will play out come April or sooner.
During a recent appearance on the “Rich Eisen Show,” NFL reporter Albert Breer gave his take.
“My sense is that they’re gonna move forward with Justin Fields and try to trade the pick,” Breer said on the “Rich Eisen Show,” via NBC Sports Chicago.
“Could that change based on their evaluation of Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Will Levis or Anthony Richardson? Sure. But I’ve talked to enough people there that feel like Justin didn’t — there wasn’t enough around Justin to get a really clean evaluation on him last year, and given what he had, what he did was really, really impressive.”
Poles even went as far to say this a few weeks ago concerning taking a QB.
“I’d have to be blown away.”
In essence, Fields is their QB for the foreseeable and he should be.
The #Bears have decided to go ahead with Justin Fields as the franchise QB and will try to trade the 1st overall pick in the draft instead of drafting a quarterback prospect, according to @AlbertBreer
Fields impressed the Bears organization on how he handled the 2022 season pic.twitter.com/aliCw3F8xV
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 1, 2023
Fields Had Every Right To Be Unhappy With Offense
As bad as the Bears were with Fields being their only offensive weapon, one would think he’d show frustration, but he never did. With arguably the worst group of playmakers in the league and an offensive line which got Fields killed weekly, the former Ohio State Buckeyes star didn’t complain or throw his teammates and coaching staff under the bus. That’s maturity and leadership beyond his years.
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Draft mate Mac Jones went through similar growing pains with the New England Patriots, a much better team. In the interview Breer referenced the rift between Jones and the Patriots’ offensive staff.
“We’ve heard about the friction and b****ing from Mac Jones and everything else,” Breer said.
“Did we ever hear one word from Justin Fields complaining about his circumstances? No. So I think that there is an appreciation not only for how Justin played, how he put his body on the line, but also how he handled all of it. He kind of had a square jaw about the whole thing. Like, I’m taking the responsibility here because I am the franchise quarterback, and I think that scored him a lot of points with people in that organization.”
It did, but would Poles, who was with the Chiefs organization, really have taken this GM job without knowing he had Fields to build around? Maybe, but having Fields in place made the decision much, much easier.
It’s going to be a wild next few months for #DaBears has they decide what to do with the 1st overall pick and @richeisen has a message for @justnfields:#NFL #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/Ed3dsffU5B
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) January 31, 2023
Fields Was Dynamic While Taking A Beating
Fields dazzled weekly with his legs, rushing for 1,143 yards, just 64 yards shy of breaking Baltimore Ravens star Lamar Jackson’s single-season rushing record for a quarterback. Fields also accounted for 26 total touchdowns, 17 passing and nine rushing. But he was also sacked 55 times in 15 starts, the most in the league.
Talking heads say one thing about QB1 but dudes that are real life in the trenches…they peep game. S/o to @dwcprodz for this Justin Fields vid. It’s 🔥. #Bears 🐻⬇️ pic.twitter.com/eKGKPb5oo8
— Jarrett Payton (@paytonsun) January 31, 2023
It’s up to Bears brass, led by second-year GM Poles, and his new boss Kevin Warren, to fix the roster around Fields. Warren was recently hired as the team president and CEO of the franchise, is very familiar with Fields from his days as commissioner of the Big Ten.
