What do you do if you're the Chicago Bears?

[NudeTayne]

43 minutes ago, CWood21 said:

And that may very well be true, but can you tell me definitely that Justin Fields is going to be more productive than Aiden O'Connell?

This

[Spartacus]

On 2/23/2024 at 10:12 AM, dll2000 said:

@Spartacus I was kidding btw.  

I assumed as much. 

[squire12]

57 minutes ago, CWood21 said:

And that may very well be true, but can you tell me definitely that Justin Fields is going to be more productive than Aiden O'Connell and a SRP?

On a per game basis, O'Connell has been more productive as a passer than Fields.  Granted it is a really small sample size.

[Spartacus]

5 hours ago, raidersedge said:

I keep hearing to Fields to the Raiders is still very much in play. Getsy talked him up big time at his presser. But who knows. I honestly rather just draft a rookie QB. Not trying to make Getsy sounds like the victim but after watching a lot of Fields, he looks pretty average at best as a passer. Definitely a frustrating player.

Average is overrating the hell out of him. He is what everyone thought Lamar Jackson was. Pretty much all of his advance stats put him near rock bottom in passing and most put him either right with or even at times behind the Wilsons... HE IS NOT GOOD. 

[Soggust]

14 hours ago, Tugboat said:

Yeah.  It just doesn't make any sense.  If you're going with Fields, it's because you think he can start and make an impact sooner than whatever "2nd tier" options in the draft.  And you absolutely need to have him starting right away, so you can figure out quickly if he's going to be good enough or not, and accordingly, what you're going to pay him.

Just out of curiosity - If we agree that Fields will be dealt somewhere for a 2nd round pick ish under the assumption that he will be a starter:

Why is he unkeepable for the Bears if they get a King's Ransom for 1.1?

Like, why is he startable for another team, but not for CHI, if that makes sense? (again, assuming they get like 4 FRPs or something stupid for 1.1)

Or maybe phrased differently - do you think there is a price for 1.1 that would make keeping Fields and trading the pick a viable option?

[sparky151]

45 minutes ago, squire12 said:

On a per game basis, O'Connell has been more productive as a passer than Fields.  Granted it is a really small sample size.

Not sure about that. Fields had a better NFL passer rating and better ESPN QBR score than O'Connell for last season. For that matter, Fields passer rating was a whopping 2 points lower than the sainted Trevor Lawrence last year and 3 points lower for his career. Fields also had a better QBR in 2022 while Lawrence was supposedly at his peak.

 

43 minutes ago, Spartacus said:

Average is overrating the hell out of him. He is what everyone thought Lamar Jackson was. Pretty much all of his advance stats put him near rock bottom in passing and most put him either right with or even at times behind the Wilsons... HE IS NOT GOOD. 

The thing with Fields is his career or season averages contain a lot of volatility, a wider spread of good and bad than most QBs.  The knocks on Fields are that he turns it over too much and doesn't keep the chains moving. If a coach thinks he can cut down on the bad plays, you'll have a very good QB. Coaches famously overrate their ability to bring the best out of players. Fields doesn't have questions about his intelligence or work ethic so it's not hard to imagine a team wanting to give him a shot. I could see a McVay wanting to tutor Fields or Atlanta wanting him. 

The contract issue is pretty resolvable if Fields likes his destination. He's eligible for a new contract now so a team doesn't have to simply exercise his 5th year option. They can just work out a new deal with incentives that serve both player and team. 

 

[sparky151]

12 minutes ago, Soggust said:

Just out of curiosity - If we agree that Fields will be dealt somewhere for a 2nd round pick ish under the assumption that he will be a starter:

Why is he unkeepable for the Bears if they get a King's Ransom for 1.1?

Like, why is he startable for another team, but not for CHI, if that makes sense? (again, assuming they get like 4 FRPs or something stupid for 1.1)

Or maybe phrased differently - do you think there is a price for 1.1 that would make keeping Fields and trading the pick a viable option?

Certainly. If the Bears didn't have the first pick, they wouldn't be thinking of moving Fields. It depends on where the Bears rate the rookie prospects but if they fall short in Poles' evaluation, then keeping Fields should be considered. It depends on what another team, who values the rookies more highly, offers. 

[squire12]

5 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

Not sure about that. Fields had a better NFL passer rating and better ESPN QBR score than O'Connell for last season. For that matter, Fields passer rating was a whopping 2 points lower than the sainted Trevor Lawrence last year and 3 points lower for his career. Fields also had a better QBR in 2022 while Lawrence was supposedly at his peak.

Not going by just 2023 for Fields.

83.9 for O'Connell career

82.3 for Fields career

Why does Lawrence matter in the discussion between Fields and O'Connell?

[sparky151]

2 minutes ago, squire12 said:

Not going by just 2023 for Fields.

83.9 for O'Connell career

82.3 for Fields career

Why does Lawrence matter in the discussion between Fields and O'Connell?

I don't know if you've read the whole thread but Lawrence is held up as an unquestionably secure franchise QB by the Jags fans here. He and Fields are the 2 first round QB picks from 2021 who aren't clearly busts, unlike Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, and Mac Jones. 

 

Regarding O'Connell, he was up and down as most rookies are. The discussion was whether the new Raiders OC who is the former Bears OC would prefer Fields to AOC. That's not clear. 

[squire12]

1 minute ago, sparky151 said:

I don't know if you've read the whole thread but Lawrence is held up as an unquestionably secure franchise QB by the Jags fans here. He and Fields are the 2 first round QB picks from 2021 who aren't clearly busts, unlike Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, and Mac Jones. 

And the current discussion is between fields and O'Connell.   Bringing up lawrence is pointless when discussing the production potential between 2 other QB.

 

1 minute ago, sparky151 said:

 

Regarding O'Connell, he was up and down as most rookies are. The discussion was whether the new Raiders OC who is the former Bears OC would prefer Fields to AOC. That's not clear. 

So you understand what the current discussion is on...yet interject lawrence

[Soggust]

4 minutes ago, squire12 said:

And the current discussion is between fields and O'Connell.   Bringing up lawrence is pointless when discussing the production potential between 2 other QB.

 

So you understand what the current discussion is on...yet interject lawrence

My fault on Lawrence, sorry gang.

But I think comparing 2023 alone between Fields and O Connell has some merit because Fields didn't really get any weapons (moore) until this year (not to mention his line), whereas Aiden walked into Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers and the option of handing the ball off to Josh Jacobs. 

Now it's also year 3 vs year 1, so when you balance support vs experience, I think 2023 is maybe a fair-ish comp?

[vike daddy]

The Chicago Bears are pushing forward with trading quarterback Justin Fields and could do so within the next week, according to a report by Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.

The Bears are expected to be hashing out details of a trade at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis next week.

“I think the bones of the trade will be set next week,” Breer said in a appearance on ESPN 1000 in Chicago on Friday. “There’s some urgency on the Bears part to get something done.”

https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/chicago-bears-moving-quickly-justin-fields-trade-could-be-done-next-week/UUQHDZO4DRCM3DWX2IWFTWR4XI/

[squire12]

23 minutes ago, Soggust said:

My fault on Lawrence, sorry gang.

But I think comparing 2023 alone between Fields and O Connell has some merit because Fields didn't really get any weapons (moore) until this year (not to mention his line), whereas Aiden walked into Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers and the option of handing the ball off to Josh Jacobs. 

Now it's also year 3 vs year 1, so when you balance support vs experience, I think 2023 is maybe a fair-ish comp?

no comparison is going to be easy when it is a QB in year 3 vs year 1.  Supporting cast does play a role as does coaching, scheme, etc.  

[Soggust]

13 minutes ago, vike daddy said:

The Chicago Bears are pushing forward with trading quarterback Justin Fields and could do so within the next week, according to a report by Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.

The Bears are expected to be hashing out details of a trade at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis next week.

“I think the bones of the trade will be set next week,” Breer said in a appearance on ESPN 1000 in Chicago on Friday. “There’s some urgency on the Bears part to get something done.”

https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/chicago-bears-moving-quickly-justin-fields-trade-could-be-done-next-week/UUQHDZO4DRCM3DWX2IWFTWR4XI/

I think Justin Fields will be traded.

I also think this guy is probably smarter than me (not high bar).

But it appears to me that he is just speculating here, like we all are, based off the Instagram stuff etc. 

source - skip to 12:12

[Soko]

55 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

The thing with Fields is his career or season averages contain a lot of volatility, a wider spread of good and bad than most QBs.  The knocks on Fields are that he turns it over too much and doesn't keep the chains moving. If a coach thinks he can cut down on the bad plays, you'll have a very good QB. Coaches famously overrate their ability to bring the best out of players. Fields doesn't have questions about his intelligence or work ethic so it's not hard to imagine a team wanting to give him a shot. I could see a McVay wanting to tutor Fields or Atlanta wanting him. 

Which games do you see particularly volatile? He had, what, 2-3 really strong passing games this year? A bunch of average, and a bunch of bad. Same story as last year. I don’t really see his QBing production as all that volatile. It’s pretty consistently underwhelming. 

All the “he’s a leader, he’s a hard worker, he’s incredibly smart” talk is all well and good, but if you generally suck on the field, then who really cares? Plenty of backup QBs were labeled as those things, at some point. I don’t doubt that another team will think they can turn one man’s trash into their own treasure, and I’m not putting a fork in Fields’ entire career. Just don’t really see what it seems lots of other people are seeing, I guess. Kid’s walking into his contract year and still lives on a couple good games and a couple flash plays as proof that maybe one day he could be a top 20 QB.