The Chicago Bears have a dilemma on their hands this offseason: Draft a quarterback with the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, or potentially trade out of the pick and roll with Justin Fields for the foreseeable future.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN believes he has the answer, based on conversations he has had with several NFL teams.
“Most teams I’ve talked to do expect the Bears to keep Justin Fields,” Fowler recently said. “The expectation is that they’d move out of that No. 1 pick.”
Fields, Chicago’s first-round selection in 2021, has 25 starts under his belt in two seasons. Just 5-20 under center, Fields faced pressure often in 2022, sacked 55 times. The Bears’ offense ranked 28th in the NFL, despite Fields nearly breaking the single-season rushing record by a quarterback. Fields rushed for 1,143 yards and eight scores, adding 2,242 yards, 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions through the air.
Justin Fields or Bryce Young?
Scouts are comparing Fields to Alabama’s Bryce Young — the apparent consensus No. 1 quarterback in this year’s class. With the NFL Scouting Combine kicking off Wednesday in Indianapolis, NFL.com draft expert Daniel Jeremiah said he doesn’t view Young as a great fit for Chicago.
“I have a higher grade on Bryce coming out than I did on Justin, but I don’t think that Bryce is a great fit in Chicago,” Jeremiah said Friday on a pre-combine conference call with reporters, per NBC Sports. “And Justin, you know, obviously — I think the evaluation is both easy and complicated.
“It’s easy in that you can see the play-making ability and what he has done with his legs and the competitiveness and the toughness. That’s easy to see.
Young lived up to expectations in his two seasons starting for the Crimson Tide. Young passed for 8,356 yards with 80 touchdowns and 12 interceptions on 65.8% passing. He took home the Heisman Trophy in 2021 and earned a sixth-place finish in 2022.
