The Chicago Bears find themselves helmet-deep in a debate regarding their future at quarterback.
Do they use their overall no. 1 pick in this April’s NFL draft to select USC Heisman award-winning blue chip prospect Caleb Williams (or another top QB like North Carolina’s Drake Maye)? Do they trade away that coveted top pick and stick with current quarterback Justin Fields, using the draft picks acquired in the deal and free agency to build around him?
There are valid arguments to be made for both.
Chicago Bears: Always Destined to Fail at QB?
But there are some who feel that the Bears, as an organization, will manage to fumble any and all quarterback decisions. They feel that the team is just not a “quarterback team” and maybe never will be.
Houston Texans star quarterback C.J. Stroud appears to be one of those doubters.
When asked by USA Today what the Bears should do with the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft, Stroud, who could’ve been drafted by Chicago with their overall no.1 pick last year if they had not made a massive deal with the Carolina Panthers, was clear where he stands.
“Caleb Williams? I don’t know. Who has the first pick?” Stroud, a former teammate of Fields at Ohio State, asked.
“The Bears. You think they’re gonna keep Justin [Fields]?” USA Today followed up.
“They should if they’re smart. But…you know,” Stroud trailed off.
“It’s the Bears,” USA Today finished.
“You said it, not me,” Stroud laughed.
That was by no means the first time people have pointed out the Bears’ lack of success in trying to build an elite-level star quarterback– or, even, in drafting such a QB. Most infamously, they passed on Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 draft, opting to select Mitchell Trubisky with their first-round pick (no. 2 overall) instead. If they get rid of Justin Fields, who was drafted by Chicago in the first round in 2021 (no. 11 overall), it will be considered yet another fail in the team’s QB history.
Cowherd Chimes In
Sports pundit Colin Cowherd also expressed his lack of faith in Chicago’s quarterback prowess when he opined that Caleb Washington might not want to be a Bear.
“I do think it’s possible that Washington trades up, and Chicago allows Washington to trade up,” Cowherd said on The Herd. “Because Caleb and his group do not want to go to Chicago. He’s from the D.C. area, the big concern for Caleb Williams is and you have to admit this, where you land matters. Chicago has never developed a star quarterback.”
And, although Cowherd walked back that statement about Williams after being chastised by Williams’ people, his lack of belief in Chicago when it comes to developing a star quarterback appears to remain.
That doubt even circulates among true-believing fans and former Bears, as well.
A Bear Doubts The Bears
In a late January video podcast appearance, former Chicago Bears defensive end Jared Allen appeared to offer up the logic that Chicago should keep Fields, because the team will never be a “quarterback team” anyway.
“If I’m [Bears President and CEO] Kevin Warren…I’m looking at: Does he [Williams] fit the system in which we want to play?” Allen said on 33rd Team. “Do we have the coaching staff to get him to the level he’s capable of, because he’s shown signs of it. And what does he look like if he has the parts around him? So, to be honest, I don’t know if you take a risk on a Caleb [Williams]…
You could stack picks [if you trade the no. 1 pick) and I think there’s enough quarterbacks in this draft that you could grab a solid backup just in case Fields doesn’t work out. You could surround him with parts…There are a lot of teams that might be just a quarterback away that’ll trade up. I would probably trade those picks back and keep Justin Fields, bolster that defense. Let’s be honest, Chicago is never gonna be the place that you’re gonna throw the ball 50 times a game and be successful.”
But there’s always a first time for everything– even when it comes to facilitating the rise of a star franchise quarterback. Time will tell what the Bears have in mind for the position.