Bears 2023 thread V

[MAQ]

I'm of the opinion Fields hasn't been put in a position to succeed. 1st year he was with a coach that didn't seem to really want him nor want to develop him. Coach was also coaching for his job...Definitely had no desire to wait on someone to develop.

2nd year is with a 1st time HC and also with a team that was purposefully not trying to win. Despite that, Fields showed an elite talent with his running.

3rd year, I think it's obvious he's being asked not to run as much as he did last year. And he got hurt after putting together a couple of good games.

This story does not scream move on to me. That said, I'd be floored if he is on the team next year. Happy, but floored. He'd have to ball out and make it impossible for Poles to move on from him. Won't hold my breath on that happening.

And after seeing this story play out with a QB who is obviously talented, can't say brining in someone else to start over makes me too excited.

[dougthonus]

I'm of the opinion Fields hasn't been put in a position to succeed. 1st year he was with a coach that didn't seem to really want him nor want to develop him. Coach was also coaching for his job...Definitely had no desire to wait on someone to develop.

2nd year is with a 1st time HC and also with a team that was purposefully not trying to win. Despite that, Fields showed an elite talent with his running.

3rd year, I think it's obvious he's being asked not to run as much as he did last year. And he got hurt after putting together a couple of good games.

This story does not scream move on to me. That said, I'd be floored if he is on the team next year. Happy, but floored. He'd have to ball out and make it impossible for Poles to move on from him. Won't hold my breath on that happening.

And after seeing this story play out with a QB who is obviously talented, can't say brining in someone else to start over makes me too excited.

I'm really low on Fields future potential now and think people work way too hard to justify his failings and find some other blame. He was my guy in the draft, but I think we should have seen more by now.

That said, I hope he gets back healthy and we can see a lot more of him this year, because his last two games showed significant improvement. It's going to be a big decision on whether to move on or not, and it would be a shame if you end on two high notes and don't see anything else and then have to guess as to whether those were anomalies or whether he's really progressing.

You probably realistically need 5+ more games to even guess at that, because you have to assume he'll have some rust coming back in game 1 whenever he's healthy too.

[fleet]

At some point as a GM you have to say I don’t **** ing know for sure, but we can’t sit around and wait any longer. Moving on. Let the chips fall. Poles may have passed that point a month ago. Justin could be auditioning for his next stop

[Chi town]

Gotta say I like the Prime viewing experience. More flexibility to watch highlights.

This was the first game in a while that I was rooting for a W.

Game was no sort of measuring stick (unless its to see who is the worst team). Bagent looked his most comfortable. His long throws aren't his strength, but not turn-overs or sacks. OL looked not horrible, but again, no real test there. Defense looked better. Sweat makes a difference in terms of turning our zero pressure squad into something mediocre looking, but we still need another guy to have a real pass rush.

Huge fan of the prime viewing experience, wider view so you can see the field and the route trails on receivers are awesome. Would pay good money to get every game like this.

How do you get the wider viewing experience?

[Chi town]

At some point as a GM you have to say I don’t **** ing know for sure, but we can’t sit around and wait any longer. Moving on. Let the chips fall. Poles may have passed that point a month ago. Justin could be auditioning for his next stop

IMO Fields has to go 4-3 and play really well to stay.

Poles has done a lot wrong but this QB timeline has worked so far. No way he could have drafted Stroud and let Fields walk after Fields 2nd season and him showing elite running.

This season we have seen more of what Fields can do and what he can’t do.

7 games should be enough to make a call.

If you believe in Fields at the end of the season you go get his coach Ryan Day and MHJ and Fash and he is setup for the future as good as one could be.

I think Fields will be more of the same with turnovers and 3 and outs and sacks. He will go 2-5 and show enough to get a late 2nd or early 3rd by trade.

Poles will draft his QB and bring his coach.

[panthermark]

Best thing about last nights game (outside of keeping the Panthers at the top pick) was that no one got hurt (that I know of).

So I expect a close to full roster in 9 days. That might be the first time the entire offensive line is together (assuming Nate Davis plays) this season. BTW, Davis is working my nerves. He's only played 220 snaps so far this season. Wright on the other hand has played 650. He is starting to get that "it is always something" vibe with me. He's needs to be a much bigger difference maker when in if he's going to be missing games.

[panthermark]

I don't think Fields is going to go 4-3.
I honestly don't know who goes and who stays at the end of the year.
Is Flus worth keeping?
What about a new OC?

BTW, I had to laugh...I don't think I've EVER seen a False Start on a kneel down at the end of the game. Made perfect sense with those two teams playing.

[jnrjr79]

I'm of the opinion Fields hasn't been put in a position to succeed. 1st year he was with a coach that didn't seem to really want him nor want to develop him. Coach was also coaching for his job...Definitely had no desire to wait on someone to develop.

2nd year is with a 1st time HC and also with a team that was purposefully not trying to win. Despite that, Fields showed an elite talent with his running.

3rd year, I think it's obvious he's being asked not to run as much as he did last year. And he got hurt after putting together a couple of good games.

This story does not scream move on to me. That said, I'd be floored if he is on the team next year. Happy, but floored. He'd have to ball out and make it impossible for Poles to move on from him. Won't hold my breath on that happening.

And after seeing this story play out with a QB who is obviously talented, can't say brining in someone else to start over makes me too excited.

I'm really low on Fields future potential now and think people work way too hard to justify his failings and find some other blame. He was my guy in the draft, but I think we should have seen more by now.

That said, I hope he gets back healthy and we can see a lot more of him this year, because his last two games showed significant improvement. It's going to be a big decision on whether to move on or not, and it would be a shame if you end on two high notes and don't see anything else and then have to guess as to whether those were anomalies or whether he's really progressing.

You probably realistically need 5+ more games to even guess at that, because you have to assume he'll have some rust coming back in game 1 whenever he's healthy too.

I keep thinking that, assuming Fields is back for the remainder of the season, there is basically no level of play that could cause the Bears to stick with him over drafting Williams/Maye. It would have to be just outrageously good.

In the event that happened and the Carolina pick was #1 or #2, I imagine you could get a pretty big haul to trade down to #3 and select Harrison, Jr. But I have a hard time imagining the Bears doing that, because 1) Fields' total body of work has not been great, 2) this regime didn't draft him, 3) the top couple QBs are supposed to be much better than typical prospects (i.e. much better than last year's or 2025's crop), and 4) it probably buys Poles more time with Warren/ownership/fanbase.

[Dresden]

I have to admit I was wrong about the Bears offense being able to look better with a competent QB behind center. Bagent has not made much much, if any difference at all. I thought last night was his worse game yet, although in terms of winning a game, it was better than the last game when he turned it over 4 times. But he seems to have regressed, almost week by week. I thought he had plenty of time to throw on a number of plays last night, and he just didn't pull the trigger. Same as Justin. It could be our receivers just are not getting open, but I think it's more likely a combination of not wanting to throw a pick, and not seeing the field real well.

Especially on some of the designed rollouts, which I thought were creatively called, he had all day to throw, and still wound up running the ball, or throwing to a check down, instead of throwing it down the field. I don't think he completed one ball more than 15 yards past the line.

He almost made some poor decisions, threw into coverage, made some really poor throws, and in general just did not inspire much confidence.

The few times he threw deep, his receivers were not even slightly open. Which I blame on the receivers.

So, I'm back to looking forward to seeing Justin at QB again, because Bagent showed none of the magic he displayed in prior games. And this was against the worst defense in the league.

I do think the O line needs help too, which is stating the obvious. We couldn't run much last night, and all too often Bagent was hurried or hit as he threw it.

[dougthonus]

I keep thinking that, assuming Fields is back for the remainder of the season, there is basically no level of play that could cause the Bears to stick with him over drafting Williams/Maye. It would have to be just outrageously good.

In the event that happened and the Carolina pick was #1 or #2, I imagine you could get a pretty big haul to trade down to #3 and select Harrison, Jr. But I have a hard time imagining the Bears doing that, because 1) Fields' total body of work has not been great, 2) this regime didn't draft him, 3) the top couple QBs are supposed to be much better than typical prospects (i.e. much better than last year's or 2025's crop), and 4) it probably buys Poles more time with Warren/ownership/fanbase.

I agree with all of this, but there's a pretty good chance we simply won't have that opportunity without trading up and giving up a massive haul. In that scenario, maybe you're high enough on Fields that you don't want to give up a ton of value to role the dice on one of those guys.

[nomorezorro]

BTW, Davis is working my nerves. He's only played 220 snaps so far this season. Wright on the other hand has played 650. He is starting to get that "it is always something" vibe with me. He's needs to be a much bigger difference maker when in if he's going to be missing games.

he had a death in the family and then had a guy roll up into his leg and sprain his ankle. not much you can blame him for there

[Dresden]

I'm of the opinion Fields hasn't been put in a position to succeed. 1st year he was with a coach that didn't seem to really want him nor want to develop him. Coach was also coaching for his job...Definitely had no desire to wait on someone to develop.

2nd year is with a 1st time HC and also with a team that was purposefully not trying to win. Despite that, Fields showed an elite talent with his running.

3rd year, I think it's obvious he's being asked not to run as much as he did last year. And he got hurt after putting together a couple of good games.

This story does not scream move on to me. That said, I'd be floored if he is on the team next year. Happy, but floored. He'd have to ball out and make it impossible for Poles to move on from him. Won't hold my breath on that happening.

And after seeing this story play out with a QB who is obviously talented, can't say brining in someone else to start over makes me too excited.

I'm really low on Fields future potential now and think people work way too hard to justify his failings and find some other blame. He was my guy in the draft, but I think we should have seen more by now.

That said, I hope he gets back healthy and we can see a lot more of him this year, because his last two games showed significant improvement. It's going to be a big decision on whether to move on or not, and it would be a shame if you end on two high notes and don't see anything else and then have to guess as to whether those were anomalies or whether he's really progressing.

You probably realistically need 5+ more games to even guess at that, because you have to assume he'll have some rust coming back in game 1 whenever he's healthy too.

I keep thinking that, assuming Fields is back for the remainder of the season, there is basically no level of play that could cause the Bears to stick with him over drafting Williams/Maye. It would have to be just outrageously good.

In the event that happened and the Carolina pick was #1 or #2, I imagine you could get a pretty big haul to trade down to #3 and select Harrison, Jr. But I have a hard time imagining the Bears doing that, because 1) Fields' total body of work has not been great, 2) this regime didn't draft him, 3) the top couple QBs are supposed to be much better than typical prospects (i.e. much better than last year's or 2025's crop), and 4) it probably buys Poles more time with Warren/ownership/fanbase.

I wholeheartedly agree- there is almost no chance we don't take a QB. Fields would have to play like he did v. DEN and WAS the rest of the year. This is our only good chance to get another elite QB. Fields has just not shown enough to make me even think twice about it. You get your QB, you get either an outstanding LT or WR, and you go from there, with most of the pieces in place to have a very good offense.

What would be missing? Maybe the center, and, depending on who we take with the other high pick, either a LT or another WR. And we have the whole rest of the draft and FA to address those issues. I'd almost let the defense go for a year, and just spend a lot of resources of fixing everything on offense. Maybe just target one elite pass rusher in FA, or use a few late round picks on a safety or something. But just get the offense nailed down, so the new QB can start with the makings of a very good line, several top flight targets, and there you go. No more excuses on offense. Just watch them get better and grow.

[Dresden]

I keep thinking that, assuming Fields is back for the remainder of the season, there is basically no level of play that could cause the Bears to stick with him over drafting Williams/Maye. It would have to be just outrageously good.

In the event that happened and the Carolina pick was #1 or #2, I imagine you could get a pretty big haul to trade down to #3 and select Harrison, Jr. But I have a hard time imagining the Bears doing that, because 1) Fields' total body of work has not been great, 2) this regime didn't draft him, 3) the top couple QBs are supposed to be much better than typical prospects (i.e. much better than last year's or 2025's crop), and 4) it probably buys Poles more time with Warren/ownership/fanbase.

I agree with all of this, but there's a pretty good chance we simply won't have that opportunity without trading up and giving up a massive haul. In that scenario, maybe you're high enough on Fields that you don't want to give up a ton of value to role the dice on one of those guys.

Right now, we have a 43% chance of the #1 overall, according to ESPN. I don't know what it is for top 2. But even if we don't get Maye or Caleb, there are other QB's we could target.

[Dresden]

I did think the pass rush looked decent last night. Not great, but not horrible either. We got a fair amount of pressure on Young, and a lot of it came from Sweat.

[GinWeary]

What happens if the Bears fall out of position to draft Williams or Maye? I'm not saying that CAR is likely to win 2 or 3 more games, but what if they do, and the Bears picks are 4 & 8?

I don't watch enough CFB to have a strong opinion on the 2nd tier QBs in this draft, but many mocks show that McCarthy and Pennix might go around the teens to early 20's.

What's the better way to build a team? Reach for a 2nd tier QB or draft two top end talents at other positions of need? I'm not sure I want to constantly keep trading back either to accumulate more picks, when we also desperately need top end talent on this roster at multiple positions.

I feel like we are so desperate for an elite QB, that we'll sacrifice good in the pursuit of perfection, which is never guaranteed in the draft.

[nomorezorro]

Read on Twitter

obviously benefitted from being able to play the panthers without brian burns, but it would be nice to finish the season in a place where we don't even consider LT a position of need

[Jeffster81]

The Bears need to take the two best players (no trade down, the Bears need elite talent) in the draft and neither QB fit's the description. I can live with Fields/Bagent/Day 3 for another year if you draft MHJ/Fashanu (or Alt). This overwhelming need to draft a QB because you have to is to me. Don't draft a QB until you can put said QB in the best position to succeed and right now the Bears cannot do that.

[Dresden]

What happens if the Bears fall out of position to draft Williams or Maye? I'm not saying that CAR is likely to win 2 or 3 more games, but what if they do, and the Bears picks are 4 & 8?

I don't watch enough CFB to have a strong opinion on the 2nd tier QBs in this draft, but many mocks show that McCarthy and Pennix might go around the teens to early 20's.

What's the better way to build a team? Reach for a 2nd tier QB or draft two top end talents at other positions of need? I'm not sure I want to constantly keep trading back either to accumulate more picks, when we also desperately need top end talent on this roster at multiple positions.

I feel like we are so desperate for an elite QB, that we'll sacrifice good in the pursuit of perfection, which is never guaranteed in the draft.

Some mocks have Bo Nix and JJ McCarthy in the top 10, so I don't think it will be that much of a reach to take one of them with one of the picks (probably our own).

[Chi town]

Best thing about last nights game (outside of keeping the Panthers at the top pick) was that no one got hurt (that I know of).

So I expect a close to full roster in 9 days. That might be the first time the entire offensive line is together (assuming Nate Davis plays) this season. BTW, Davis is working my nerves. He's only played 220 snaps so far this season. Wright on the other hand has played 650. He is starting to get that "it is always something" vibe with me. He's needs to be a much bigger difference maker when in if he's going to be missing games.

Started with a death k. The family that he basically kissed all of training camp for. I’ve had that vibe from him the whole time.

No bueno.

[fleet]

At some point as a GM you have to say I don’t **** ing know for sure, but we can’t sit around and wait any longer. Moving on. Let the chips fall. Poles may have passed that point a month ago. Justin could be auditioning for his next stop

IMO Fields has to go 4-3 and play really well to stay.

Poles has done a lot wrong but this QB timeline has worked so far. No way he could have drafted Stroud and let Fields walk after Fields 2nd season and him showing elite running.

This season we have seen more of what Fields can do and what he can’t do.

7 games should be enough to make a call.

If you believe in Fields at the end of the season you go get his coach Ryan Day and MHJ and Fash and he is setup for the future as good as one could be.

I think Fields will be more of the same with turnovers and 3 and outs and sacks. He will go 2-5 and show enough to get a late 2nd or early 3rd by trade.

Poles will draft his QB and bring his coach.

Greeny is connecting Harbaugh to Chicago as a logic exercise. Here we go. It only gets louder. And in the end, Poles is faced with a choice to go forward with a complete clean slate and a new quarterback, or status quo ith Flus and Fields, and an expensive contract. I suspect the Bears nation will want the former. It would be easier on Poles and his career to take tge clean slate