I see what the Bears are trying to do here, I like the gamble — I just don’t know if it’s going to work out for them.
When the Chicago Bears officially locked up the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, not only did the city of Chicago lose their shit, but so did the entire landscape of the NFL. And this was because of massive speculation surrounding what the hell was going to happen with quarterback Justin Fields.
As time went along and clarity started to form, it began to appear as if the Chicago Bears were going to stick with Fields rather than draft a new quarterback with the top pick, and with each passing day, more and more people hopped on board with that mindset.
Sports Illustrated senior NFL reporter Albert Breer has now joined the fold:
“My sense is that they’re going to move forward with Justin Fields and try to trade the first pick,” Breer said in a Jan. 31 interview with Rich Eisen. “Could that change based on their evaluation of Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Will Levis, 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.”
I see what the Chicago Bears are trying to do here. They’re trusting Justin Fields to be their franchise quarterback and are using their No. 1 pick to get some value at another position. For them, it’s a gamble — a gamble worth a shot — but still a gamble. I’m not saying it won’t work, it could very well go their way, but I won’t lie, I have my doubts. I’m just not big into Justin Fields.
But I give the Bears this: Out of their other quarterback options with the draft, they have types like Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Will Levis and Anthony Richardson. As you see, nobody is standing out on that list like, for example, Joe Burrow when he was coming into the 2020 NFL Draft out of LSU, so I don’t necessarily blame Chicago for their strategy. There really aren’t any sexy picks out of the quarterback category this year, so I get it. (RELATED: ‘We Were Really Dedicated’: Arian Foster, Marlon Humphrey Claim NFL Is ‘Scripted’)
Solid strategy, Chi-Town. I just hope Justin Fields works out for y’all.