Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields talked about the possibility of the franchise drafting a quarterback with the first overall pick.
The Chicago Bears presently have the first overall pick for the NFL Draft in 2023, and there have been a variety of rumors and assumptions made about what they would do with it. Some feel that the franchise would trade that pick in return for several draft assets, while others say that they could use that pick to choose a new quarterback even if Justin Fields is already on the team.
Whether it be a smokescreen or to signal a legitimate franchise-altering move, speculation over what the Chicago Bears choose to do with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft will continue until the team either hands in their card or works out a trade. This is true whether the move is intended to signal a legitimate franchise-altering move or to serve as a smokescreen.
Even after a year in which he was Chicago’s most dangerous offensive threat, those rumors won’t disqualify quarterback Justin Fields from consideration. Recently, the quarterback for the Bears appeared on the Rich Eisen Show, where he discussed his and the franchise’s anticipations for the forthcoming NFL Draft.
Fields said, “How I look at it is just controlling the controllables. No matter what happens with me, I can control what I can control, and that’s how I approach the game. That’s how I train for the game and how I carry myself within the game. It’s just those three aspects to where I kind of just have to look myself in the mirror and say what can I control? And it is what it is, and just move on and be the best quarterback I can be.”
He added, “Now’s the time where I’ve been trying to grow personally, spiritually as a quarterback. So I’ve grown a lot these past few weeks in the offseason. Everybody would love honesty in the process, I would definitely like to know that. It’s a business, so I totally understand. No hard feelings. But like I said, I control what I can control. Control my work ethic. Control how I carry myself each and every day.”
This past season, Justin Fields displayed tremendous growth, and he actually did show some hopeful development during his sophomore campaign at center for the Bears. He finished the year with 1,143 rushing yards, making him the third quarterback in NFL history, along with Michael Vick and Lamar Jackson, to sprint for 1,000 yards in a season. He was practically unstoppable on the ground and demonstrated some promise as a passer as well, despite the fact that this aspect of his second-year leap was not as significant.
Justin Fields could turn out to be special
Fields improved his touchdown percentage from 2.6 to 5.3 and his passer rating from 73.2 as a rookie to 85.2 after he threw for 2,242 yards and 17 touchdowns in his second season as a starting quarterback.
Despite this, his rate of interceptions was virtually unchanged from the previous year, coming in at 3.7% rather than 3.5%. And despite the fact that his propensity to leave the pocket made every play a must-see, it should not be overlooked the fact that his still-developing pocket knowledge put him at risk for both fumbles and injury — he led the league with 55 sacks taken.
Fields has only made 25 starts in his early career, and while it may be trouble for the rest of the league if he improved his mental game in addition to his arm skill and running ability, he hasn’t done it yet, which allows the draft questions to continue to be asked about him.
This was done on purpose in several respects. It makes sense for the Bears to at least give the impression that they are interested in quarterbacks if they want to maximize the value of the No. 1 overall pick in the event that they decide to trade it. They are not going to reveal their intended targets to any other teams in any simple way.
The process is still very far from being finished, and the draught will not be ready for more than two months. It is possible that the Bears will inform Fields of their plans once those plans have been more thoroughly developed. Although it is feasible that these plans could include starting over at the game’s most important position with someone like Alabama’s Bryce Young or Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Chicago has far more visible deficiencies to fill as a rebuilding squad on both sides of the ball than any other team in the league.
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