2024 Chicago Bears Season Thread
- Thread starter Madrox
- Start date
Can someone explain to me if they Bears don't sign Fields why didn't they draft CJ Stroud last year. I don't think he had much growth from last year to this year. The addition of DJ Moore helped him a ton and Cole Kmet made strides, but they dropped the ball on losing David Montgomery he played well for Detroit. They have so many holes and they are more than 3 or 4 players away from even making the playoffs.
Look...nothing against Fields. I like the dude. But anyone looking with an unbiased eye can see after 3 years that dude will never take the Bears to the Superbowl. And yes, our bad record is not all on him. But its mostly on him.
I dont want to win a few more games. I want it all. I can live with taking a chance on Caleb and it not working out better than sticking with certain mediocre QB play.
Trade Justin.
I dont want to win a few more games. I want it all. I can live with taking a chance on Caleb and it not working out better than sticking with certain mediocre QB play.
Trade Justin.
I don't agree, but it'll be interesting. I can’t lie I want a ton of picks to be able expedite the overall talent on the roster. I'll root for whoever is taking snaps behind center though.
One thing is for damn sure: if they draft Williams or another QB (might not be Williams), that dude BETTER come in and win games because it's a hell of an opportunity cost.
Pretty simple. A)They liked the package that Carolina offered enough to take the deal and move down. B)The sample size on Justin Fields was small and incomplete. He damn near set a NFL record for rushing yards, had little to no help at receiver and played behind the worst offensive line in the league. C)They got the #1 pick in a season in which 10 of their games were decided by 9 points or less so they weren't far off from winning.
Hell without the meltdowns against Denver, Detroit and Cleveland they win 10 games.
Mostly on him? Fields has obvious issues but this team hasn't been good for 75% of his time with the team and the defense didn't get good until after Montez Sweat's acquisition. Prior to that even when Fields and the offense did look good and score say 30 the defense would give up 35.
If Fields had played better this wouldn't be a question but he didn't so here we are.
Yeah, I began to feel that way with Justin's fourth quarter play. His improvements just weren't enough for me.
Caleb will be in better position with the talent around him.
Wrong, they were 3 shitty 10+ point 4th qtr collapses from making the playoffs
Right. I feel like mad people are forgetting exactly how we lost some of these games. The reasons ran the gamut: bad coaching decisions, defense didn't have they shit together early in the season, WRs dropping TD passes, middle of the OL sucking, etc. and yes: sometimes poor QB play / decisions. But that same QB has been the reason we've won games and almost made the playoffs as well.
People criticize because it's the cool thing to do right now and because they think there is a better, flashier option available. But be careful what you wish for. You've got to be able to properly weigh both options based on the real strengths and weaknesses of the players and situations. Give Fields credit for what he is/can do/ has shown (great deep ball thrower, can throw in the elements, running ability, tough as hell, great leader, hardest worker in the joint, accountable, can stand criticism and isn't a mental midget). And he hasn't played his best yet.
I don't think any of the prospects are going to make us drastically better than what we already have now. More crucially, no matter what direction we go, we're going to need to continue to surround the QB with better players and upgrade the team as a whole, or else we're just going to be treading water. But if you keep Fields, we'll actually have the picks to do that rebuild faster (remember as it stands now, we only have 5 picks and still don't even have a 2nd this year).
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Disagree on the Bears being more than 3 or 4 players away. IMO, there are 3 definite positions of need and 2 positions that can't be ignored.
QB - Not a weakness and frankly Fields trajectory is the same as the team. The arrow is pointed up and he will only get better as talent is added around him if he isn't traded. The only reason Caleb is a topic of discussion is because of the Carolina trade. Kudos to Poles on that. If the Bears had the third pick and not the first, MHJ would be the clear cut pick.
WR2 - Definitely a position of need. Id prefer MHJ or Nabers but this position can easily be best addressed in the draft.
DE - Definite position of need. Could be addressed via free agency or the draft. Preferably both.
Center - Definite position of need. The weakest position on the line and team. The off season is a complete failure if this position is not improved in a substantial way. Need a vet and a rookie here.
FS - A position of need due the Jackson being cut. He was a decent player but he wasn't worth his contract anymore. This position can be addressed via free agency or draft. Not a top need but can't be neglected either.
G - Depth is needed due to Jenkins being injury prone. Id prefer to have young talent added via the draft but a serviceable vet can work as well. If Jenkins were to get injured, the line will suffer. Adding decent depth can help minimize the drop off. Not a big need but cannot be ignored either.
The Bears need a second round pick. Trading Fields is one way to get it, trading one of the firsts is a way to get it as well. Poles has options and im sure that he will play his hand smartly.
Fields is not the weak link on offense. He has room for improvement. Last year was his best year and the first year that he had legit talent around him. That is not a coincidence.
Replacing Fields with Williams without addressing the other positions listed above will not drastically improve the chances of winning the division or the playoffs. Conversely the positions can be addressed if Williams is drafted too. There isn't just one way to improve the talent on the team.
To be belabor my point, keeping Fields, improved coaching on offense (low bar) and addressing C, WR2 and DE will easily put the Bears in the playoff hunt. Im not sure the same can be said for Williams, but if he is drafted, he will be coming into a much better situation than Fields. Everyone saying that three years is enough is disregarding the dearth of talent Fields was surrounded with his first two years in the NFL.
Bates could be in line to be the starting center in 2024. The trade will be official at the start of the league year on March 13, pending a physical.
In March 2022, Poles’ first months on the job, he made the aggressive move to sign Bates — then a restricted free agent — to an offer sheet.
The Bills matched, and Bates re-signed with Buffalo. Poles was about to speak with reporters at the NFL owners’ meetings when the news broke.
He's relatively young, can play multiple positions and hasn't been injury prone
I remember someone bringing up the point that not only do the Bears need an upgrade at center but that you also can't roll with a rookie QB at the same time as a rookie centerBates could be in line to be the starting center in 2024. The trade will be official at the start of the league year on March 13, pending a physical.
In March 2022, Poles’ first months on the job, he made the aggressive move to sign Bates — then a restricted free agent — to an offer sheet.
The Bills matched, and Bates re-signed with Buffalo. Poles was about to speak with reporters at the NFL owners’ meetings when the news broke.
He's relatively young, can play multiple positions and hasn't been injury prone
Bears don't have many picks now, just gave up a 5th rounder for the swing lineman which I have no problem with but this is a deep draft. Kiper just said it's at least 26 WR's that will be drafted in the first four rounds. Bears need WR's and interior OL. We'll see what happens in Free agency in a couple of weeks.
It's not just white people. Plenty of black people are on the hate train as well. And it's based on little to nothing that's provable.
It really shows the power of memes with idiots and also people's inability to think critically or fairly since Marvin Harrison Jr isn't give half as much hate for doing many of the same things as Williams
Im not too worried about how many picks we have after seeing how Poles racked up picks in his 1st draft when he ended up making twice as many picks as we had coming into that draft. And he has 2 Top 10 picks and could easily trade down.
There's not much in terms of free agent centers and last year all of the centers went earlier than expected and the top 2 centers in this draft will be gone by round 3 most likely
I didn't even know players had been giving their medicals to every team. That doesn't make sense if you're a top five pick to give it to a Kansas City or Baltimore.
I was wondering if we're trading the 9th to move down for more, but our picks are really based on what we get for Justin and if it's a second or a third.
I think we're getting two fourths