CHICAGO, IL – The NFL Draft is still almost two months away, but all eyes are focused on Da Bears. It’s hard to recall an NFL Draft where one team had as much influence on how it will go down as the Monsters of Midway do in 2024. They have the top pick and don’t seem to know what to do. They also have the 9th pick.
Do they keep Justin Fields and build around him?
Maybe even trade down for more picks? Or do they trade Fields, draft USC QB Caleb Williams and build around him? Some people seem to think Caleb is a Mahomes/Allen hybrid. While others – like Merrill Hodge – don’t think he’s anything special.
Fields has had it tough with multiple offensive coordinators and a weak supporting cast. But he’s shown some improvement every year, especially when they added DJ Moore in the boatload haul they got for the top pick from Carolina last year. But the improvements have been marginal.
The trade decimated Carolina so badly that they were the worst team last year. That really worked in the Bears favor. Could the Bears pull off a similar trade this year? But… did Fields show enough improvement to bank on him?
The Bears defense played well in the second half of 2023 and they have some good young stars on that side of the ball. So there is potential to build a contender – if they don’t muck this up.
The other benefit would be that it if they draft Williams, they restart the rookie pay scale clock and would not have to pay Fields. But that ain’t no benefit if Williams is the second coming of Mitchell Trubiski and not Patrick Mahomes. In case you forgot, the Bears took Trubiski over Mahomes. Whoops.
I watched Caleb play against Washington and he looked talented, but made some mistakes trying to extend plays that weren’t there. That’s the tough part about assessing QBs. You can measure arm strength and athleticism, but it’s harder to measure other things. Can a guy slide away from pressure and still keep his eyes downfield? Does he recognize when a play isn’t there and throw it away? Can he read a defense and be calm under pressure? These are things that aren’t always easy to tell at the college level.
The first order of business is making sure anyone who was around when they took Trubiski is nowhere near this decision. The worst case scenarios:
Keep Fields: he’s mediocre, they overpay him, Caleb shines somewhere else.
Draft Williams: Caleb is a bust, Fields goes on to star somewhere else.
They’re in a tough spot. What would you do?
Want an easier decision? Come back tomorrow for Angry Ward.
