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AZBearsFan

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1 hour ago, Ty21 said:

Would you extend JF right now for cheaper and risk him not being your guy (like Kyler) or would you rather play out the season, see who he is and possibly have to give a top 5 contract in nfl history 

play out the season - if he's earned a top 5 contract, i would happily pay it. 

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1 hour ago, Ty21 said:

Would you extend JF right now for cheaper and risk him not being your guy (like Kyler) or would you rather play out the season, see who he is and possibly have to give a top 5 contract in nfl history 

I don't think you can pay him right now...as much as I fully believe in the talent and fully believe he can be the guy at QB who finally turns everything around for us he hasn't proven it yet...

I also think with the type of competitor he is this could be another Hurts situation...Fields wants to win and understands money is a by product of that...give him a season with some real talent around him and let him see what accepting a contract structure like Hurts can do to help you win and I think money won't be a massive issue.

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40 minutes ago, HuskieBear said:

play out the season - if he's earned a top 5 contract, i would happily pay it. 

It he doesn’t show to being worth a massive contract in 2023 then he won’t get one next offseason. They don’t have to give him one after 2023 regardless of how things go - they still have 2 years of control before they’d even need to franchise tag him.

Also, there’s a large gap between him being a bona fide top tier QB (the Mahomes/Hurts/Burrow/Allen tier) and him being entirely expendable for 2024 and beyond. Most fans don’t seem to look at it that way, but say he goes for 3400 yards passing, 25 passing TDs, 12 INTs and runs for 850 additional yards and 6 TDs this year, which would demonstrate noteworthy growth but likely not put him in that top 5 discussion, are people gonna want to get rid of him? 

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6 hours ago, AZBearsFan said:

Also, there’s a large gap between him being a bona fide top tier QB (the Mahomes/Hurts/Burrow/Allen tier) and him being entirely expendable for 2024 and beyond. Most fans don’t seem to look at it that way, but say he goes for 3400 yards passing, 25 passing TDs, 12 INTs and runs for 850 additional yards and 6 TDs this year, which would demonstrate noteworthy growth but likely not put him in that top 5 discussion, are people gonna want to get rid of him? 

You can win a Super Bowl with Alex Smith, but only as a scout, not as a quarterback. If Fields proves to be a middling NFL QB, then I'm letting him walk regardless of what the rest of the roster looks like. If we have a lot of talent at other positions, we should be attractive to top QB options or be willing to trade for the guy we want. What I really want to avoid is taking the Chicago Bulls approach and continue running it back building the roster around a guy (Lavine) who will only ever be a very strong second option.

The Bears have a terrible history at the QB position. Anything but continuing to roll the dice when a guy has proven to not be "IT" would be a huge mistake.

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1 hour ago, chisoxguy7 said:

You can win a Super Bowl with Alex Smith, but only as a scout, not as a quarterback. If Fields proves to be a middling NFL QB, then I'm letting him walk regardless of what the rest of the roster looks like. If we have a lot of talent at other positions, we should be attractive to top QB options or be willing to trade for the guy we want. What I really want to avoid is taking the Chicago Bulls approach and continue running it back building the roster around a guy (Lavine) who will only ever be a very strong second option.

The Bears have a terrible history at the QB position. Anything but continuing to roll the dice when a guy has proven to not be "IT" would be a huge mistake.

JFs floor is above middling QB. Michael Vick was worshipped, noone EVER doubted his greatness early on. JF was just as good as Vick in his 1st couple of seasons, but with alot less weapons than Vick; yet Fields is constantly doubted while Vick was always praised. I just don't get it.

 What overriding weakness has Fields ever shown that means he cannot be great, or even an all-time great?  He threw the ball and won at the highest level in college (albeit with Olave JSN and jarrett) but he spread it around, iirc Olave and Jarrett both has double digit TDs and JSN had 1000yds  all in same season. That is alot of passing. He has looked good when he has thrown the ball in the NFL. 

 

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4 hours ago, chisoxguy7 said:

If Fields proves to be a middling NFL QB, then I'm letting him walk regardless of what the rest of the roster looks like.

My scenario gave Fields 3400 yards (200/game), 25 TDs, 12 INT, plus 850 rush yards (50/game) and 6 TDs, and in doing so I was being reasonably conservative on the rush yards given what he did last year. 

In Lamar Jackson’s 3rd year (the year after he was MVP) he had 2757 yards passing (183/game), 26 TDs, 9 INTs, plus 1005 rush yards (67/game) and 7 TDs, and in the 4 seasons since becoming BAL’s full time starter to start 2019 he has averaged 203.9 yards/game passing and 69 yards/game rushing. He just became the highest paid QB of all time this offseason. Would you describe Lamar as middling?

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5 hours ago, SLCbear said:

JFs floor is above middling QB.

 

2 hours ago, AZBearsFan said:

Would you describe Lamar as middling?

 

I should clarify: I'm a JF believer. The one caveat that needs to be made, however, is that in the modern NFL, so far only the Eagles have had great success with this type of player at QB. I believe that JF and Lamar are both above average quarterbacks. However, I think that it is a much narrower path to success with this kind of player at QB versus your prototypical pocket passer. I want JF to succeed and I believe he is the best player the Bears have ever had at the position. That being said, if in two years the Bears are not showing signs of being able to build a roster around JF or if JF plateaus in his development, I would not at all be mad if the Bears made an evaluation and determined that the most prosperous path forward is with someone other than JF at the helm.

I think we have the pieces and the people in place that will make that not be the case, but we will have a tough decision to make in a couple years if this offense remains below-average-to-average versus the other 31 offenses.

I don't expect that this opinion will be satiating for everyone, but I think it's really important to acknowledge just how much has to go right in order for the dual-threat QB to thrive. What we saw last year with Fields playing hero ball will ultimately result in him being the next RG3. On the other hand, letting Fields use his legs in a competent, calculated way will take the offense to new heights. Hopefully our additions on the OL and at WR will allow Fields to take the next step, and Getsy can find ways to scheme Fields open without exposing him to so many hits.

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4 hours ago, chisoxguy7 said:

On the other hand, letting Fields use his legs in a competent, calculated way will take the offense to new heights. Hopefully our additions on the OL and at WR will allow Fields to take the next step, and Getsy can find ways to scheme Fields open without exposing him to so many hits.

I think this was always the plan, with the evidence being that Fields wasn’t featured basically at all as a runner last year until after the WSH game when Getsy & Co. finally conceded that we both couldn’t pass block for any traditional passing schemes with the OL we had in 2022 nor did we have nearly enough NFL starting level talent at receiving positions. He was featured as a runner last year because he had to be, and only with significant reluctance, and as you suggested that’s not to say his running will in any way go away - it won’t and shouldn’t - but with improved talent around him it should have far less emphasis.

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