Brendan Meyers, Staff Writer
The Chicago Bears are in a fascinating position this off-season. They currently own the first pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and have $78 million in cap space (the second most in the NFL). Chicago went 7-10 this past season, but finished strong, winning five out of their last eight games.
The Monsters of the Midway have a monumental decision to make at quarterback this offseason. They can either draft the unanimous best available quarterback Caleb Williams from USC, or keep current quarterback Justin Fields.
If I’m in charge of the Bears, it’s a very simple decision. Draft Caleb Williams and get as much as you can in a trade for Justin Fields.
Fields was not the only problem with the Bears offense, but he was a huge part of it. His athleticism is off the charts, but he has not shown the ability to be an above average passing quarterback in the league. Part of the problem is poor play calling by a bad offensive coordinator, but it is also Fields not being able to make quick decisions and throw into tight windows. He has shown flashes of greatness, but only against the league’s worst defenses. Can he make the playoffs and possibly win a playoff game with a super team around him? Absolutely, but he will never win a Super Bowl. When is the last time a team won a championship without a top ten quarterback? Through three years in the league, Fields has not shown the consistency in being able to make throws top ten quarterbacks make.
Caleb Williams on the other hand, has a rocket arm and is not afraid to throw into tight windows. He will instantly have top five arm strength in the league when he comes in. If you’ve never seen him play, the best way I can describe him is a combination of Patrick Mahomes’s skills with Jackson Mahomes’s personality. I completely understand why people have issues with his personality of having a big ego, crying, and painting his nails against Notre Dame. Another guy who had personality issues but elite talent coming out of college is Aaron Rodgers. He slipped all the way to 24 in the draft and he made sure every team who passed on him would come to regret it.
Common fans will look at the Bears record the last three seasons and say Fields has gotten significantly better because they went from 3-14 two years ago to 7-10 last season. This is a complete myth. The Bears defense got significantly better while Fields did not improve and arguably got worse.
In 2022 Fields threw for 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions with a 60 percent completion percentage averaging 7.1 yards per pass attempt in 15 games played. In 2023, he threw for 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions, averaging 6.9 yards per pass attempt in 13 games played. He had more passing yards in 2023 because he had 52 more attempts to do so. His QBR actually decreased by 10 points from 56.3 to 46.1.
The bigger issue is his decline in rushing numbers. His legs make him special, but opposing teams did a much better job containing him in 2023. Fields went from 1143 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns with 7.1 yards per rush in 2022 to 657 rushing yards and four touchdowns with 5.3 yards per attempt in 2023. To make things even worse, he did not improve after the Bears got him a great number one receiver in DJ Moore and a solid right tackle in Braxton Jones.
People have plenty of doubts about Williams and his USC Trojans being 7-5 this season. I would not be too discouraged by this because the defense failed them as a team. In the 12 games Williams started, the offense averaged 41.7 points per game and only won 7 games. In his Heisman season in 2022, he had two key players that got drafted that weren’t there this season. Wide receiver Jordan Addison was a first round pick for the Minnesota Vikings, and left guard Andrew Vorhees was a first team All American and a seventh round pick. With no true number one receiver, a mediocre at best offensive line and horrendous defense, that record does not look as bad.
The Bears can give him a stud receiver in DJ Moore and a solid defense. The offensive line still isn’t good, but young tackles Tevin Jenkins and Braxton Jones can develop into solid starters. There’s no reason Williams can’t do what CJ Stroud did in his rookie season with the Texans and lead them to the playoffs and win.
I firmly believe that it does not take more than three years to tell whether you have your franchise quarterback or not. Fields has not shown to be that guy and it is time to move on. As a franchise, how many more top quarterbacks will the Bears continue to pass on? They passed on Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes, and even CJ Stroud last year. Williams could definitely be a bust, but at least there’s a chance he could rival Mahomes and be one of the best players in the league.
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