With the 11th overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft, the Chicago Bears select Justin Fields QB, Ohio State.
Those were the words uttered at the podium in Cleveland last night that signaled that the future in Chicago may be changing for the better.
As expected, the Bears traded up in the draft to make a move at a position that has been an issue with this team for too long.
The Bears traded the 20th pick, a 5th rounder this year and a 1st and 4th rounder in 2022 to the New York Giants, and moved up to the 11th pick in the draft.
In free agency the Chicago Bears signed veteran Andy Dalton to a 1-year $10 million deal, but anyone in their right mind knew that the Bears would not be done upgrading at the position.
Fields has been the starting QB at Ohio State for the past two seasons as well as playing 1 year in Georgia. In that 22 game span as a starter, he has completed 396 passes for 5,372 yards, with 63 touchdowns and just 9 interceptions. He also has 218 rushing attempts for 867 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Fields is an experienced, big game player.
Fields has competed at the highest level of college football and shown how impressive he can be in big game moments. This was exemplified in the 2021 College Football semi-final, where he outdone the no.1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence by throwing 22 passes for 385 yards and 6 touchdowns. The Buckeyes would win the game 49-28 and advance to the National Championship final.
Strangely, in recent weeks Fields began to slip down draft boards with draft analysts touting the narrative that Fields wasn’t as good as the likes of Zach Wilson or Trey Lance. For me, Fields is at the very least the 2nd best quarterback in this class; however, only time will tell which teams made the best decision.
When Atlanta, Carolina and Denver decided not to take a QB, then the door opened for Chicago to make the move up and grab a player that they probably thought wouldn’t still be available outside of the top 10 picks.
With this move, the off-season fan negativity seems to have suddenly disappeared. If Fields develops and becomes a success then all will be forgiven in regards to Ryan Pace’s 2017 1st round decision.
Ryan Pace has already stated that Andy Dalton is still the starter this season, allowing Fields to sit and learn for a year. Regardless of what Pace says, I would not be shocked to see Justin Fields take to the field as the starter at some point during this upcoming season.
Fields is a much better player and is in a much better situation than Mitch was in 2017. The Bears are set up for success this time around and IF Fields works out then this may be considered the best draft move made by the Bears in a long, long time.
This kid is a winner, he’s a leader. He’s one of the top athletes, never mind quarterbacks in the draft. He’s got a strong, accurate arm and he makes smart decisions. All in all, he was probably the best fit out of the options available for Chicago.
Justin Fields – “So I think this is God’s plan for me to be a Bear. I’m more than excited and I’m more than ready to get up there for sure.”
Whether it was God’s plan, Ryan Pace’s plan or Matt Nagy’s plan, it doesn’t matter. What matters is Fields is here and ready to go, and so are the Chicago Bears.
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