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Make no mistake, he’s a blocking TE if that’s how the Bears use him. Unless they start really including him on offense, he’s primarily a blocking TE. Can he be a receiving TE? Sure. That’s the only reason a team would draft a TE in the first. But right now he’s a blocking TE.

While the conversation is similar there are key differences for me. First I’ve already seen Caleb throw more WR open or throw before they make their break then Field has done his entire career. Caleb can layer the ball into open zones in the intermediate routes. Fields is, for the most part, still a line of sight passer. Rubbish could layer the ball correctly but couldn’t read the coverage. Caleb make a lot of good checks at the LOS. Against Baltimore later he saw their blitz, checked to the next play and threw a perfect ball to Swift right around a blitzing Kyle Hamilton for a big gain. The one trait I want to see from Caleb is consistency. I’m definitely not out on him.

I agree they are similar but the full season will tell the story. Remember Mitch didnt succeed here so we can only hope Caleb improves. Definitely has more talent than Mitch but that doesnt guarantee anything.

But that's what Sweat and Grady Jarrett and Odeyingbo (etc) are for? 🤷‍♀️

By using the wonderful world of AI I was able to compare Trubisky's start to Williams' start (their respective rookie years). Then compared how Trubisky's 2018 campaign (his sophmore year and the year we last made the playoffs and he nod to the Pro Bowl) was to how Caleb is doing so far....interesting stuff. First each of their rookie years: Then their sophmore years:

It’s fine we disagree but just because he doesn’t have a lot of targets doesn’t make him purely a blocking TE. I understand there are different roster construction strategies. For me at that draft position I want a Pro Bowl player. I think Loveland has the talent to achieve that. Just not in his first 6 games.

Every QB we had lately we looked at the good side and the bad side and hope for improvement. Both our previous QBs had flashes as you say but just didnt consistently do it. We are seeing the same inconsistencies in Caleb. The difference to me is now we have trust in a coach that can make Caleb better where we didnt with our last two coaches. I remember that game that Trubisky threw 6 TDs in and thought we had a special QB. He finished the year going 66%, 32 TDs and 12 INTs 3223 yds. Ran for 431 yds and 3 TDs. That was his second yr just like what we have for Caleb. Justin Fields first year was a total waste. He was suppose to sit and learn and Nagy threw him in the fire with a bad line and not a lot of weapons. His second yr was when he run for 1143 yds and 8 TDs. Threw for 60.4% 2242 yds 17-11. His stats would have been better but he missed two games. Looking back he had terrible coaches since they were fired last yr. Had he had BJ as a coach I am sure he would have helped him to be more consistent. None of that matters now, you can go back on a players development. He hasnt gotten much more consistant in his career. Caleb has some of the same traits we condemned Justin for . Holds the ball to long, leads the league at 3.07 seconds. Hasnt been accurate since he has come into the league. 62.3%; over two years. He seems to rather throw into double coverage to Rome than look for dump offs to TE or RB. I think BJ can correct his bad traits but for now we see his potential . I think he wants to be Mahomes type (hero ball) where all he needs to do is be Goff for now. . His special talents will show up once he becomes Goff then he can play like Mahomes and do the hero ball stuff. .

I would have to respectfully disagree. Both Mitch and Justin showed "flashes." However, neither one had the ceiling Caleb has. The potential to be great is there. All I am saying is that after 23 games of being inconsistent, it's time for him to show up. The Caleb I am seeing on the field is not the Caleb I expected to see at this point in his career.

We never saw Fields playing in rhythm - we see Caleb do it every week, but making mistakes too. The idea that Caleb is the same as what we've had is false - making a pattern where none exists.

Man, I hope you're right. To be honest, I am sick and tired of hearing all of the excuses as to why he hasn't become consistent. We are about to finish the first half of his second season. It's SHOWTIME!

I believe Caleb is going to make it. He's been given weapons, OL and coaching that the other two didn't. It's up to him...

Couldn't agree more! Every young QB we have had has shown us an amazing pass that we claim proves he is the "chosen one" to lead us to the SB All he has to do is do it consistently. Then he continues to tease us by throwing into double coverage when another receiver is wide open, or by throwing a pass to a wide-open receiver so far off target that, even if it is caught, it puts the WR in harm's way. Here is hoping we don't have to start over AGAIN. We need Caleb to grow up (as an NFL QB)!

nah, Caleb has shown he can do it in flashes in every game. The first two drives this last week were awesome until they stalled in the red zone. Our problem is consistency, and thats very different than what we saw in Fields and Trubisky. We didnt see the in rhythm plays that we routinely see from Caleb.

This is the exact conversation we all had about Mitchell and Justin at this point in their careers. We could see the flashes and hoped for the consistency. Accuracy, footwork and timing. Timing being the most important thing for any QB transitioning from college to pro. Here we are praying another one makes it.

Regarding the draft. It sucked that a LT didn't fall to us in the first. After that, I believe they switched to the strategy of next year. Drafting Loveland and Burden, uogrades Kmet and DJ while getting younger and cheaper. We've discussed difference makers before. I was higher on Warren, but can see why the choose Loveland, due to his length and speed. Burden is a bigger faster DJ. All said, if we can't rush the passer, all is moot...

Conversely, Goffs numbers were nearly identical to his four years with McVay before going to Detroit and spent 4 years with Johnson. I’d fathom a guess his (Goffs) numbers are trending similar right now. Sure Caleb COULD improve. But I’m not 100% Johnson is the magic elixir everyone makes him out to be. I’m slowly gaining faith (with the improvement of the running game as evidence). But until Johnson starts scheming his TEs into the 12 man offense, I’m a skeptic. And I need to see the mechanical side from Caleb to believe HE is the answer too.

To be fair, KC is just 5-3 (after winning last night) and many feel they are the most coddled when it comes to officiating. 🤷🏻‍♂️

For me Burden made/makes sense. From what I read on him he was a first round talent and really he looks to be the replacement for Moore . We all know he costs a lot and at some point will need to move on. Loveland made little sense. I get why they did it and have to believe Johnson had some say on what he wanted but as you and others have said, if all your gonna do is use him as blocking TE, there are much better options out there later in the draft. And if the theory is to have two stud TEs (with Kmet being the other) then use them accordingly.

if you can't draft well and rely on FA's you end up like george allen and the red skins and that was before the salary cap. drafting well in the top ten is ESSENTIAL. if you can't find players of NEED this high in the draft for 2-3 years straight it kills the roster and kills the future cap by having to bring in overpriced FA's on their last leg to fill the 'need'. the receivers we drafted in this draft was ludicrous. how many are going to be on the field for each play to even make a difference? yet we draft nothing at the 2nd most critical position on offense - OLT. we have nothing at the most critical position on defense - pass rushing DE. both of these positions are game changers as to whether you win or lose. it would be similar if we drafted running backs in the first two rounds with walter payton in his prime. no freaking need and nowhere to put them. to let these guys sit that means we also have to cut our practice squad of players to make room for these guys on our regular roster. add to this, again we draft injured players HIGH. a DT with a broken foot, a top 10 TE who is also injured. our GM's have done this numerous times with the same results. these are picks you might use if you already have a SB contender with a full roster of good + starters and can cover them on the roster for a year or two. NOT when there are this many holes at critical positions. example: we bring in cutler and give away the moon. yet we have the worst OL in football and never improve. this 2 first round trade was a complete waste of good talent in cutler, a good qb, who just basically snapped the ball and ran for his life and a waste of the players we could have drafted. we have made this mistake for decades. we bring in FA qb's or DE's that eat up our cap space and surround them with NOTHING to succeed here.

I appreciate that you own it, but a 5-win team shouldn’t be spending a first round pick on a TE, much less a blocking TE. Blocking TEs go on day 3.

yeah, its uneven, but we should see great games too. The first two drives this week were amazing, until the red zone. But the penalties are a killer, and good coaches work them out until they arent a problem anymore. It needs to get better, and I believe it will.

This is very well said. Loveland and Burden will be good for us for a long time, but they were the wrong picks. Maybe Burden made sense, but a 5 win team picking a TE at #10? In a draft that had multiple good ones to boot. Trading down for Trapilo, if it was a reach to supplant Braxton Jones was a mistake. And we skipped Areonte Ersery there to also acquire Shemar Turner. I mean, we are super lucky that Benedet has come out of the woodwork, but effectively trading Ersery (at 41) for Trapilo and Turner was a huge mistake. And you STILL could have had Burden anyway at 39!

Yeah - bummer. Hope he recovers quickly and ends up becoming a dude for the bears. I saw where BJ talked about how he played a big part in the run d improving.

Speaking of Turner…

I think Ben is putting some emphasis on players this week - in particular with the penalties. It’s a long season, I hope we see a 4-5 TD outburst and a Bears win on Sunday!!!