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Fields is a tremendous athlete. When he ran int he open field (before we told him to slide) he was a threat to score on any play from anywhere on the field. He reminded me of Hester that way. But Fields has never shown an ability to process and get the ball out on time. I dont believe he is a QB. Caleb is still growing, so those who say he hasnt arrived yet are correct. He needs to be a top 5 QB before anyone can say he is provably worth that overall #1 pick. To those who say "show me" I say that is completely reasonable. But Caleb has already shown a lot more than Fields ever did. Even Calebs horrible season last year was the 5th best season for a Bears QB of all time. And yes, it wasnt good enough. This year we keep seeing evidence that Caleb is getting the ball out in rhythm, and growing. I fully expect him to be a major stud. He definitely has the right teacher. But I think Fields would never be a great QB no matter who handled him, or what he was given. He just doesnt process. Caleb is on his way to greatness. Not there yet? Totally fair to say. But there is no evidence that he isnt on schedule either. I love what Im seeing from Caleb, and he will learn as defenses throw things at him, like the Saints zone blitzes this week - at least Caleb didnt bite and throw the picks. And when protection breaks down, every QB holds the ball and runs. Caleb often makes something out of that too, in Mahomes-like fashion. I wouldnt trade Caleb for any other QB from his draft right now.

So true re: Swift. I thought he was gone for sure, now that he's playing so differently than he ever did, he can play himself into being kept. And youre right that Poles and Johnson will wait for the end of the year to do formal analysis. Thats right too. But anyone casually looking at our cap can see that Moore, Kmet and Edmunds are likely to be gone. Kmet can still possibly play his way back, but hes a little too expensive.

I agree. Fields was a gifted athlete who never developed into the QB that he was projected to be. I supported him, as I do all Bears who are signed to play for us. There is no need for me to go into how he was mishandled and didn't benefit from a good HC, OC, OL, and one of the better WR rooms in the NFL. Simply put, the Bears failed Fields. Eventually, we had no choice but to move on. One thing I must say is that, from all accounts, he worked hard, gave 100%, and had the support of his peers. For that reason, I think it's sad that some choose to find it necessary to insult him. I hope he eventually finds success. I also agree with Jason that the jury is still out on Caleb. He's also a gifted athlete, but does he have that extra element —the one that cannot be measured with a stopwatch or tape measure? The QB instincts that cannot be taught. You either possess it or you don't. Only the truly great QBs are gifted with it. I keep hearing excuses. Footwork. Cadence. Etc... How long does it take to learn such basic skills? Caleb is like a beautiful rosebud. But until (or unless) he blossoms, opens up, and uses good QB instincts alongside his physical talents, he will never be a franchise QB. The potential is there. He has started 22 games over a year and a half. It's time. We need him to step forward—no more excuses. I really want him to blossom.

Im sure there will be some, but. I thought some would have happened before this season but it never happened. Poles and Johnson will have to make some difficult decisions once the season concludes. I dont think they know much yet since the team is only starting to take mold. Two weeks ago, Swift was a goner, now he is firing.

Agree with all of this - the writing has been on the wall since the draft. And your rationale is the reason - it's not that Moore isnt a good WR he IS, but is he the best expenditure of $20M on this roster with Burden coming up? Probably not. But Moore is a good player, we will trade him, and not just cut him of course. Not saying you said we would cut him! Just he is probably worth something decent in trade.

I was looking at next year's cap and there is not much room. Players that probably won't be here are Edmunds, Kmet, Moore and Jarrett. I say this because the first three are cap friendly cuts without huge dead money. Jarrett is simply not a need and high salary. (Wasted signing so far). The 25 draft saw us select Moore, Kmet and Jarrett's potential replacements. That Dayo signing looks to be a bust as well, but I don't know if he's cut-able. I know this has all been discussed before, but I thought the 25 draft was cool inclusion. Who else? Kiran?

Well said Jason.

At least we’re back to talking about Bears defenders hitting a QBs.

Keep in mind this foul has an undefined timing mechanism to it, as well as a perception angle. One, is the QB still the “passer”? He continues to be the passer until the pass ends or he participates, roughly. A lot of Refs have a “the ball is gone”-saying right after the throw, whether verbal or nonverbal, that acts as a timer. After the phrase equals a foul. Two, does the defender make “any” attempt to pull back weight? With the timing of “is he still a passer by definition” and the perception of “did the defender pull back,” there is a lot of wiggle room.

As stated, the training tapes I’ve seen from NFL guys makes it cut and dry. head contact w/ QB in the pocket = foul It’s almost like a facemask in that regard: no gray area. Even though the arm was hit first, he’s still by rule a passer. And therefore can still get the roughing call. To understand rules it’s often beneficial to take them to the extreme. If contact to the throwing arm were first, and a punch to the jaw were second, we obviously wouldn’t say, “He hit the throwing arm first!” Same concept.

Re: Fields, he never got a real shot here behind a historically bad OL. Dude ran for his life and realized running was better than getting killed. Add in coaching changes and scheme changes for the obvious result: bust. Like an apple that appears OK on the outside, the physical and psychological bruises are there, and cannot be taken back. He was ruined and it’s too bad. RE: Williams, I’m still waiting for a few breakout performances strung together. New Orleans should have been one. He’s got the physical skills, but I’m still not sure about mental.

I heard a interesting stat this morning. We lead the league in explosive plays with 48. Over 10 yds rushing and 20 yds passing. This offense is probably around 60% of what it is going to be. The OL is starting to jell, the weapons are plentiful and a QB that still has room to grow. We are the only team in the league that has scored over 21 points in every game. I think the key to anything we do is Caleb getting better but since the OL appears to be fixed, the running game is solid and DL is starting to get some pressure, Theo is more consistent that Braxton was but still needs to grow. Jackson worried me in the beginning but is starting to show his stuff. I think the one position we may trade for will be a DB. DuShon Wright has shown some signs of making big plays but he makes a lot of mistakes also. 2 of our top 4 DBs are out for the year in JJ and T. Smith. I think Stevenson is stepping up but we need one more consistent players in our DB group. Gordon is getting his legs under him and starting to show why he is a blue player. If we added an upgrade at any group it would be welcomed but I think we see why they have not added a RB. All 3 of our top RBs are showing signs of life. We dont have a dominate DE but with Booker coming back soon, I think they run with what we got. Grady is still injury and if he gets healthy, that will help.

I think there were a few times the Saints zone blitzed, and the lineman dropped right into the throwing lane of our hot read. Caleb, to his credit, didnt throw the pick, and ran around instead, usually not to great effect. Williams and Johnson will have to work to build a better answer to that - and thats exactly what this season is for. Benedet also had a terrible game, two killer penalties and got beat a bunch by Chase Young. Not saying Jones or Trapilo are a better choice, but if theres a good LT in the draft next year that falls to the right place, we shouldnt hesitate to pick him just because Benedet and Trapilo are on the roster. Ditto possible trades or free agents.

I’ve watched the usual QB film study and some others. I watch a few other games each week. The core of this team is becoming good. The Saints blitzed a lot all game and yet not once did it feel like our Oline and Caleb didn’t know what to do. We have a ways to go to get the consistency the really good teams have but 6 games into the Ben Johnson era the floor has moved up considerably from where we were the last few years.

Hes nothing if not intense. I love it. Everything I wanted from Vrabel is here in abundance with Johnson. Our future is bright.

I didn't realize we hired a modern version of Tom Landry.

We werent Fields haters - we just watched the games, and despite hoping he'd be great (I was excited when we drafted him) he turned out to be a turd. That was obvious already 3 years ago. But to say Caleb hasn't grown this year is a huge mistake. Time is gonna show that opinion is trash too. Caleb's gonna be FINE. In fact, he's gonna be a top 5 QB within the next year or so.

Whine is what some people did while Fields was here. I wanted him to play better but he never got there. I wished him well and Fields haters like you jump to look at conversations from a couple years ago so you tell everyone how smart you are . I never said he ever was going to be a top 10 QB. I like the way if you support a player and hope he gets better it's a bad thing. I wasnt the only one on here that wished him well. Caleb hasnt set the world on fire with one of the best offensive minds in the league but I support him and expect him to get better. Now if he fails, you'll come back and complain how dumb I was for supporting him a couple yrs from now. Some people just like to be a little bitch because that is their nature. You havent made a post since May 26 until now and this is the subject you wish to comment on. That says everything about you. Once a d*** always a d***

And the moron on this board who endlessly whined and promoted Fields, with obviously manipulated facts and statistics the entire time, should apologise for the complete waste of time and brain cells spent looking at his posts. Thank God for the ignore function.

yes, anyone with eyes can see - JF sucks

And as the world turns, Jayden "RGIII" Daniels is already ruled out, again...

He will end up somewhere as a backup gadget guy like Taysom Hill and live on in the Beartalk threads

I didn't want to start a new thread, but the debate is formally over.

I really love this guy.