Justin Fields and the Chicago Bears have had a less-than-pleasing season. With anticipation building around next year’s NFL Draft, the constant question has been whether Fields has done enough to establish himself as the future of the franchise. Sports Illustrated hosts Robin Lundberg and Dakota London discuss.
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00:00 Is Dustin Fields the guy for Chicago?
00:03 - This is actually a very tough question
00:05 because Fields has played much better
00:07 since this year really, as a whole,
00:10 since the beginning of the season.
00:12 And obviously was pretty good coming back from injury.
00:15 He did not lose that game.
00:18 However, you look at the body of work,
00:20 it took him a while to get going.
00:22 The record is what it is,
00:24 but how much of that is on the organization itself?
00:28 Because that's the issue here.
00:30 They are very well primed
00:32 to have the number one pick in the draft.
00:33 I think they have about a 60% chance
00:35 to get the number one pick in the draft
00:37 when you combine their pick with Carolina's pick.
00:39 But if you like Fields,
00:40 and he certainly has a degree of talent,
00:43 you could also make the argument
00:45 you actually pass on Caleb Williams or Drake May
00:49 and you again flip that for more picks,
00:52 for more ability to build the rest of that roster.
00:56 I would have dismissed it summarily
00:58 at the beginning of the season and said,
00:59 "No, they have to draft a quarterback."
01:01 I'll at least entertain the argument now
01:03 that Fields could be the guy
01:05 and they could do something else with that draft capital.
01:08 - I think the better question is,
01:10 is Chicago the city for Justin?
01:13 Listen, this is the place that produced
01:16 Jim McMahon and Rex Grossman.
01:17 It's not like you got a bunch of Hall of Fame quarterbacks
01:19 that's just coming out of Chicago.
01:21 So I personally am cautious and concerned for him
01:26 in the sense of, is he in the right organization
01:29 that fits his abilities best?
01:32 And I would say, "Eh, I don't think so."
01:34 I do think he would be successful in a different city.
01:37 I'm not sure exactly what city that would be,
01:39 but seeing as Chicago has never been the place
01:42 where you say, "Oh, if you want to develop a quarterback,
01:44 send them to the Bears,"
01:46 it might not be the best place for him.
01:48 And because he is still in that phase of his career
01:51 where his natural thought is to run before throwing,
01:54 he needs a lot of development.
01:56 And I just don't know if Chicago is the place for that.