Where Will the Stars Align?

​Since the final snap of the 2023-2024 Chicago Bears Season, fans of the team have gone back and forth on what Ryan Poles should do to address our quarterback situation. On one side, fans want to use the #1 pick to snag Caleb Williams, who experts say is a generational talent, and trade Justin Fields for a few picks to add some assets around Williams. On the other side, fans want to keep Justin Fields and trade the #1 pick to either Washington or New England for their #2 or #3 pick and then some and use those picks to add assets around Fields. 

I have consistently voiced that I want to keep Fields, and in no world does it make sense in my mind to trade him away and get Caleb Williams. I think Fields can be a really good quarterback, but he doesn't have an experienced offensive line and hasn't had a good lineup of coaches to develop him and the players around him. 

I've come to recognize that I do not want Caleb Williams to be Chicago's quarterback because I'm also an Oklahoma Sooners fan, and I haven't come to put that aside to think of what is best for the Bears... until now. 

Regardless of what Poles decides, Chicago will be in a much better position heading into the 2024 season than at the conclusion of the 2023 season. The line will have more experience. I have more confidence in Matt Eberflus, considering he put together an okay second half of the season. Most of all, I trust Ryan Poles. For once in the last decade, I actually like our General Manager. 

There are positives to both keeping Fields and drafting Williams. By keeping Fields, we keep the band together with a few additional weapons. Though I would no longer be upset if we drafted Williams, it is for this reason I prefer this option. By drafting Williams, the analogy I like to use is we are changing the lead singer but keeping all other members of the band, including the band manager and record label. This change could possibly disrupt the upward trajectory this team appears to be on. 

At this point, I would hope the coaches know what they need to do to make Justin Fields a successful quarterback. Now that Eberflus is entering his third year with Fields, he should have things figured out, and I think we saw a little bit of that in the second half of this last season. There's no denying that Fields can be a really good quarterback. I think it is just a matter of building that offense around him better.

Now, like I said, I would not be upset if we traded Fields and drafted Williams. For the first time in forever, the Bears are in a win-win situation, no matter what they do. Williams does have a very high ceiling, and even though I am skeptical, maybe starting from point 0 with a new quarterback would be a good reset for the Bears. Maybe Justin Fields is beyond repair in this system. I have full confidence that he could be a difference-maker somewhere else, but maybe Chicago just isn't the place for him. 

Like I've said, I'm more for keeping Justin Fields than I am for drafting Caleb Williams, and maybe that's just my Oklahoma Bias overpowering me. Chicago has a lot of decisions to make, and we don't want to make a decision we are going to regret a few years down the road, like passing up on Mahomes. It is possible both players have fantastic careers moving forward, but it's also possible they have terrible careers. That's what makes this decision so difficult. There is so much unknown and debate on what the right move is.