Ryan Poles and the Chicago Bears have a unique situation with No. 1 overall and it may not be great news for Justin Fields
Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles has an opportunity to move on from Justin Fields and select a new franchise quarterback with the 2024 No. 1 pick. A year ago, with the No. 1 draft pick in hand, Bears general manager Ryan Poles made it clear that he planned to keep Justin Fields at quarterback. He stated that he’d need to be “blown away” to make a change.
Ryan Poles said Wednesday he and the Bears will thoroughly consider all options as they stand with the Nos. 1 and 9 picks in the upcoming draft. While Poles didn’t commit one way or the other, he does plan on turning over every stone before making a decision to make sure they get the important position correct.
Bears GM Ryan Poles on QB: "We are going to turn every stone to make sure we make a sound decision for our organization. I do think Justin got better. I do think he can lead this team. At the same time, there's a unique situation and our staff has to look at everything."
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) January 10, 2024
This may not be great news for quarterback Justin Fields
The Bears traded the No. 1 pick in 2023 to Carolina for Moore and this year’s first-round pick. With Carolina finishing a league-worst 2-15, the Bears have the opportunity to take a potentially franchise-changing quarterback with the first pick. Caleb Williams of USC is the top quarterback prospect this year, but North Carolina’s Drake Maye and others are also in the running for a high draft position.
Among the 29 quarterbacks who threw at least 300 passes, Justin Fields ranked 27th in completion percentage (61.4), 22nd in yards passing (2,562), 20th in touchdown passes (16), 11th in interceptions (9) and 20th in passer rating (85.6). The Bears finished 7-10 in their second season under Poles and Eberflus, following a league-worst 3-14 record the previous year.
Fields didn’t take the big step forward this season. However, it may not have been all his fault. The coaching was poor, the wide receivers struggled at times and there wasn’t much consistency overall.
One NFL expert gave his thoughts on what he thinks the Bears will do as Peter King wrote on the situation with Justin Fields and the No. 1 pick, predicting they will trade the pick as Heavy pointed out this week:
“The Bears, at 1, should be able to get a 2022-like ransom for the pick with so many good quarterbacks in the pool,” King wrote in January 8’s column for NBC Sports. “I expect GM Ryan Poles to trade the pick, but it’s too early to say that with certainty.”
King is one of the most trusted NFL insiders in the country, but his intel on Poles also comes with an established background. The two spoke several times during the 2023 offseason with Poles sharing key details with King about his trade negotiations and thoughts on Fields and the quarterback position for the long-term future.
King also reported he expected Poles to trade 2023’s No. 1 overall pick coming out of the NFL Scouting Combine last March, less than a week before the deal went down. So, when it comes to plugged-in sources with Poles, it doesn’t get much better than King.
Of course, all eyes will be on general manager Ryan Poles and what he plans to do with the first overall pick. Poles can trade it for the second consecutive year while keeping quarterback Justin Fields. Or the Poles can use it to select a new quarterback, most likely Caleb Williams.
There’s a long ways to go this offseason and a lot can happen. But it’s an absolute must that Poles gets this quarterback situation correct whether it is Justin Fields or a rookie quarterback. Without that, the Bears will continue to struggle as they have for years.
Let’s hope they get it right and they can finally find that franchise guy.
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