Post by davidl on Dec 12, 2023 9:53:24 GMT -6
If Poles and Warren want to keep Fields as the #1 QB, they need to improve the performance in the running game (and specifically not including Fields). I don't mean that Fields doesn't run with the ball. Just that we need to be able to hand the ball off to someone else and have them consistently average at/above 5 yards per carry. And we need to seriously improve our passing game. Probably both getting a new center as well as a better passing scheme.
If they can't do that, we will need another #1 QB sometime over the next 2 or 3 years.
I so agree with you, Chuck. And I would add that if the Bears can also add an elite WR in this draft like Marvin Harrison Jr, then if for some reason we do move on from Fields down the road, then this offense is 100% set for success for the next QB1. It's win/win as far as I can see. From reading up about this upcoming draft it sounds like it is a very good one for WRs. If it is, then I'd be fine drafting a 2nd WR in the mid-rounds too. But get that Harrison kid no matter what. If that guy stays relatively healthy during his NFL career then he is a lock for a Hall of Fame level career - think Walter Payton and Gale Sayers, but at the WR position. Sayers & Walter were both top-5 picks... in fact, both taken at #4 (Walter in 1971 and Sayers in 1965) - and they gave us incredible seasons - Walter was still a good player when we won our only Super Bowl with the #2 scoring offense that year as well as the #1 defense.
The game has changed a lot since those days and now the passing game makes or breaks a team.
I 100% agree with you about the run game taking some pressure off of the QB... saving wear and tear on Fields' body. Totally agree. But get that Harrison kid to team with DJ Moore and Kmet. That will be a lethal offense that will pay off in a SB win. That's the cherry on the sundae I think. I don't want to see a trade down this draft with that top pick. Use it. Use it to get MHJ. Again, think of it as the WR equivalent of the Sayers and Payton drafts. And as an aside on this, we had two 1st round picks in that 1965 Sayers draft. We went defense with the other top-5 pick and drafted Dick Butkus. I would like to see that "one two punch" offense and defense in THIS draft. Get an elite WR and the best DL guy though, this time. Again, the game has changed so much since 1965... get the MHJ kid at all costs. He (I believe) is the key to championships here in Chicago as we move forward.
If available, I want Latu (DE) or Newton (3-Tech). Of course, Poles never drafts what I want, so I’m not hopeful about getting either of them.