Brontoburglar wrote: ↑Sun Jan 01, 2023 10:57 pm
Pruitt IV wrote: ↑Sun Jan 01, 2023 10:51 pm
Brontoburglar wrote: ↑Sun Jan 01, 2023 10:10 pm
Pruitt IV wrote: ↑Sun Jan 01, 2023 8:06 pm
This will be the Bears' worst season since 1969.
As long as they have Justin Fields at QB, they will be a joy to bet against.
are you saying that Fields is the issue with the Bears?
No.
But he (in my opinion of course) is not going to be a top-tier NFL QB.
coming to that conclusion about possibly the NFL's best post-Michael Vick QB rushing threat after his second season where his best pass catcher was Cole Kmet or Darnell Mooney seems awfully, awfully premature, don't you think?
Fields became the third QB to rush for 1,000+ yards in a season today. The other two are Vick and Lamar Jackson. Not sure how that's not a top-tier group.
My read on Pruitt's original comment was that Fields' presence makes wagering lines on the Bears better (a couple points) for those wagering against them than what they should be.
I don't think Fields is going to be a top-tier NFL quarterback because Bears management has done a very, very poor job of putting talent around him this season and I don't believe in their ability to do so in the future. In a year where they had little flexibility due to trying to clean up cap in one offseason (a completely reasonable plan), top free agent Larry Ogunjobi failed his physical, nullifying a three-year, $40.5 million deal (and basically putting the team on hold to make moves at the beginning of free agency for three days). They also traded Khalil Mack away on the first day of the league year (see "cleaning up cap"). Other "big" moves included signing DT Justin Jones to fill a portion of the role expected to be filled by Ogunjobi, DE Al-Quadin Muhammad from IND, where the new coach used to be DC, and Lucas Patrick, a reserve interior offensive lineman from Green Bay.
Without a first-round pick, their draft strategy this year was to spend both second-round picks on DBs, then their third-rounder on a 25-year-old WR who is much more a return specialist than receiver (active for 11 games where he has totaled 8 rushes, 6 receptions, 18 kickoff returns, and 5 punt returns - he lost both return jobs at times for fumbling). The fact he's 25 is the cherry on top, as he would be at the age where any potential contract extension would come when he is at/past his physical peak instead of still approaching it.
Anyway, this was rationalized by trying to help Fields by making the defense and special teams better to make the team more competitive. They did draft four offensive linemen in the last three rounds (including two from FCS schools - one of whom was the left tackle who made yesterday's highlight packages for getting driven back into Fields for a sack in which I don't think the defender even touched Fields).
After their original 53-man roster was set, several analysts (Mike Clay at ESPN was one) had them as a bottom-five NFL team strictly from a talent level. They also added seven players who had been cut by other teams to their opening day roster, underscoring how bad their roster was and still is.
The "defense/special teams to help Fields" plan led to them trading away Robert Quinn and Roquan Smith during the season. They also sent their own second-round pick to Pittsburgh for Chase Claypool (I posted at the time that I understood the thought process behind it because the free agent pool at WR this coming offseason is very weak). Anyway, Claypool has 11 catches in six games and is still being talked about as having problems picking up the playbook after two months. That pick sent out for him is almost certainly going to be #32 or #33, pending what Houston does next week at Indianapolis (I expect the Bears to lose because Minnesota has to try to win to get back into the 2-seed).
I don't trust their player evaluation, asset valuation, or ability to work the salary cap (Over the Cap estimates them having the most in the league for this coming offseason at $124 million, which is $52 million more than the team listed as second - ATL). Having the #1 or #2 overall pick in this coming draft doesn't really excite me because the roster is so poor overall, they need to trade down to fill the roster with young talent (they're bad at all three levels on defense and need help everywhere on offense except QB and TE - and should draft a developmental QB late, anyway), but I expect them to draft Jalen Carter or Will Anderson instead.
So, no, I don't think Fields will be a top-tier NFL quarterback, regardless of how many yards he runs for.
“The running, the jumping... a celebration of life.”