FluxDash

Twice in the span of an eight-minute conversation with reporters Thursday, Justin Fields put his faith in the almighty.

“I’m the kind of guy that thinks that everything happens for a reason, so I think this is God’s plan for me to be a Bear,” he said.

“God has a different plan for me,” Fields said a little later, regarding how quarterback-needy teams passed on him for the likes of Zach Wilson and Trey Lance.

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Normally, I’d make a crack here about Old Testament vengefulness or biblical lessons about suffering. What did Fields do to deserve this?

But maybe he’s on to something and it was Bears fans whom God was testing all these years. After all, what else could explain their sacrilegious record of quarterbacking these past, uh, 70 years?

I don’t know if there was a cosmic plan for Fields to end up in Chicago. All I know is this is the most exciting development in a long, long time. Trading for Khalil Mack was something special, but the Bears have had their share of star linebackers. This pick has franchise-changing potential. Fields has the ability to give the Bears a weapon like they’ve never had before.

In two seasons as a starter at Ohio State, Fields threw 63 touchdowns and only nine interceptions. He’s second in career touchdown passes and fourth in total touchdowns (79) in Columbus. If he had a full 2020 season instead of just eight games, those numbers would be unmatched. Instead of wowing GM Ryan Pace with a losing performance in the Sun Bowl, Fields torched Clemson in a playoff game this past January, connecting on 22-of-28 passes for 385 yards and six touchdowns, despite incurring a rib injury in the first half. That injury slowed him down in a national championship loss to Alabama, but to many, his perseverance showed a toughness (and a medically aided pain tolerance) that is necessary to succeed in the NFL.

Fields isn’t just a winner. He’s an exciting winner. My dime-store psychoanalyzing of Jay Cutler focused on all of the losing he did from college through his early years in the NFL. That couldn’t have been good for his psyche. For all of Cutler’s talent, something was missing. As for Mitch Trubisky, he played one full season as a starter for a mid-tier school.

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Fields comes in knowing what it’s like to play big games for a football factory. Does that mean he’ll succeed in the NFL? No. But given that he has the necessary physical gifts, it can’t hurt.

This is also a historic pick of sorts for the Bears. This is only the second time post-merger that the team has drafted a Black quarterback and the first since 1977, when Vince Evans was a sixth-round pick out of USC. Evans had it put in writing that he would only play quarterback. Fields won’t have to do that.

While it’s not a good sign that you’re drafting a quarterback twice in four years in the first round, I have to give Pace credit for cleaning up his own mess in such dramatic fashion.

Fields is a much better prospect than Trubisky, and no, I don’t care where the mock drafts had Trubisky ranked in 2017. Mock drafts don’t erase drafts that deserve mockery.

Until Thursday night, Pace’s NFL epitaph was: He drafted Trubisky over Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson. Now, we might be able to add “but he drafted Justin Fields four years later, so it all evened out.”

And few were excited about the inexperienced QB from North Carolina four years ago. Remember when Trubisky was booed at the Bulls game? After the Fields pick was made, fans at the White Sox game started an impromptu “Just-in Fields!” chant without the selection being announced on the video board. Here’s hoping he works out better than Josh Fields, who was a former college QB himself.

Maybe Justin Fields won’t be able to handle the broad-shouldered expectations before him, but there shouldn’t be any second-guessing this pick. Moving up from No. 20 to No. 11 was a no-brainer, and I’ve been told the Bears tried to move up even higher to get Fields. Instead of drafting the third-best (by a country mile) quarterback of the draft first, as they did in 2017, Pace drafted the second-best quarterback fourth. That is, I believe, what is described as good value. I’ve been covering the Bears long enough that I forgot it exists.

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There won’t be any dopey narrative about why the pick was made this time. Pace can’t see himself in Fields, who wasn’t a surprise success story in college. He was the No. 2 prep prospect out of Harrison High School in Kennesaw, Ga., second only to Trevor Lawrence. After one season at Georgia, Fields transferred to Ohio State and became a star on Ohio’s premier football team.

In his voluminous NFL Draft preview, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler wrote about Fields’ strengths:

Well-strapped together athlete who takes care of his body … moves with the fluid, composed feet of a former shortstop … shows a natural feel for timing, touch and accuracy on throws within structure … strong arm and shows the ability to drive the football, especially when he steps and torques through his hips … sturdy in the pocket … recognizes defensive back assignments and places the ball away from trouble on his throws … above-average stride speed and flashes a burst when he tucks and runs …

Brugler also covered Fields’ weaknesses:

Undeveloped field vision … locks onto his preferred read and doesn’t consistently find his second and third options (sometimes by design) … needs to be quicker eliminating things post-snap … stares down reads and doesn’t play with a consistent sense of urgency … needs to be better taking what the defense gives him instead of forcing throws … his passes lose life when attempting to throw off-balance … ball security needs work: holds the ball loose in the pocket and as a runner (12 fumbles over the last two seasons) … needs to do a better job of avoiding hits … benefited from an all-star cast around him (both players and play-calling).

The strengths clearly outweigh the risks, and all of those supposed problems should get better with quality coaching. They certainly aren’t deal-breakers. Fields is, without question, a better pro prospect than Trubisky, who came into the NFL with known issues, like not being able to throw deep with any accuracy and not enough experience as a starter.

The Trubisky experience soured fans, media, and let’s be honest, some of the players on the team’s decision-making and coaching. There was an outcry when the organization kept the status quo after last season. Deservedly so. Most GMs wouldn’t get a second chance after the Trubisky debacle. Matt Nagy was brought in to modernize the offense, and it looked as ineffective as ever. Cutesy play nicknames gave way to familiar stagnation. This pick isn’t a validation of George McCaskey’s and Ted Phillips’ patience. They still don’t know what they’re doing. But if Nagy is worth anything as an offensive coach, he has his chance to prove it with Fields.

Fields being there for the taking was either divine intervention or just dumb luck. But as the saying goes, luck is just preparation meeting opportunity.

While there wasn’t a lot of excitement from Bears fans coming into this draft, no one could’ve been surprised that Pace traded up. I would’ve been shocked had he traded down or stayed at No. 20. That Fields fell to No. 11 might not be anything more than a couple of other teams being lazy in their scouting biases. One league executive who had Fields slotted as the second-best QB in the draft wondered if some teams were discounting Fields’ success because of how fellow Buckeyes QBs Dwayne Haskins and Cardale Jones have fared in the NFL.

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“There’s definitely been a lot of criticism, but at the end of the day I feel like I know myself, I know how much work I’ve put in the game,” Fields said. “I know how much I love the game. I know how much I want to be great. It just comes a point in time when you have to cut all that criticism out.”

If he’s anything like almost every other Bears quarterback in history, he’ll hear plenty more criticism as a pro, but maybe this time the team will stick to its plan and keep the rookie QB mostly on the bench this season. Andy Dalton should be more capable of starting for a season than Mike Glennon was in 2017, but people are still going to want to see the new guy play, and I’m not just talking about the media and the Grabowskis. Ownership and management are the ones who push those buttons.

But this time, I hope prudence wins out and Fields sits for at least the majority of the season. And hopefully, for Bears fans, this time the quarterback of the future is worth the wait.

(Photo: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)

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