2024 NFL Offseason and Draft Thread

[GB Warrior]

That game was great. Let's do it again

[Jockey]

GB looking good for playoffs. Minny is finished. GB still has NYG, Carolina, Vikings, and Bears after KC.

[WhiteTrash]

Yes, still fire everyone and draft a QB.

I'm sure ESPN will tell us Fields was terrific. 

[Jockey]

How do they decide on a “star” for the postgame show?  Maybe one of the equipment guys?

[jesmu84]

Yes, still fire everyone and draft a QB.

IMO, Bears would be dumb to take a QB (in the first round, top 10 pick). This team is far from a super bowl. And this coaching staff cannot develop a QB.

[MU82]

IMO, Bears would be dumb to take a QB (in the first round, top 10 pick). This team is far from a super bowl. And this coaching staff cannot develop a QB.

Hence listing "fire everyone" first.

Hell, Tepper woulda done it last season! And you saw how well that turned out for his team!!

[WhiteTrash]

IMO, Bears would be dumb to take a QB (in the first round, top 10 pick). This team is far from a super bowl. And this coaching staff cannot develop a QB.

The Cubs have a better chance to win the Stanley Cup than the Bears coaches returning next year.

[jesmu84]

The Cubs have a better chance to win the Stanley Cup than the Bears coaches returning next year.

This coaching staff should be fired yesterday. This is the biggest reason why:

https://x.com/Johnathan_Wood1/status/1729332683811987753?s=20

[WhiteTrash]

This coaching staff should be fired yesterday. This is the biggest reason why:

https://x.com/Johnathan_Wood1/status/1729332683811987753?s=20

Good point.

[Lennys Tap]

IMO, Bears would be dumb to take a QB (in the first round, top 10 pick). This team is far from a super bowl. And this coaching staff cannot develop a QB.

If this coaching staff cannot develop a QB, the “solution” isn’t avoiding drafting one - it’s putting a coaching staff together who can develop one. Whether that’s Fields or a 2024 draft choice should be the new staff’s prerogative.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

This coaching staff should be fired yesterday. This is the biggest reason why:

https://x.com/Johnathan_Wood1/status/1729332683811987753?s=20

Is he saying that the Bears’ coaching staff should draw up a game plan to “evaluate Justin Fields” rather one they think will win them a football game? How would those be fundamentally different?

Furthermore it’s year three. He’s started 33 games. Not to mention countless practices. If you don’t understand if he’s your quarterback of at least the near future by this point, I don’t know what to say.

But regardless the coaching staff’s job is to win games. If the GM doesn’t like the way they are doing that, get a new coaching staff. But the tweet above is kind of like the “let’s have Justin play a lot and still lose” stuff from last year. I don’t see how that helps the team.

[MU82]

Is he saying that the Bears’ coaching staff should draw up a game plan to “evaluate Justin Fields” rather one they think will win them a football game? How would those be fundamentally different?

Furthermore it’s year three. He’s started 33 games. Not to mention countless practices. If you don’t understand if he’s your quarterback of at least the near future by this point, I don’t know what to say.

But regardless the coaching staff’s job is to win games. If the GM doesn’t like the way they are doing that, get a new coaching staff. But the tweet above is kind of like the “let’s have Justin play a lot and still lose” stuff from last year. I don’t see how that helps the team.

To answer the questions in your first paragraph ...

To win games, you might think the best thing would be to have Fields just about never throw the ball and have him do a lot of designed runs. To evaluate him as an NFL quarterback, you would run the same kinds of plays for him as most NFL teams do for most NFL quarterbacks, making the run more of an as-necessary thing but featuring mostly dropbacks and occasional rollouts. Yes, you try to take advantage of his ability to move, but you want to see him throw early and often, read defenses, make good choices. If he fails repeatedly at the latter, it probably will go against your desire to win games, but you will have come to the conclusion that you need a better QB.

I'm not saying that's what the Bears should do. Maybe they're already doing it to some degree. I don't follow the Bears. You asked the question, and that's the answer.

It's pretty common for teams to sacrifice a potential win or three to develop/evaluate young quarterbacks. Heck, the Panthers might have won another game or two if they had benched Young for Dalton, but that would have been dopey.

But I do agree with what you're saying overall. If the Bears haven't evaluated Fields by now, wow.  And coaches are wired to win. It would have "helped" the Bears to lose last night, but Eberflus didn't take a knee on 4th down - he sent in the kicker to make the game-winner.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I'm not sure I agree with the first paragraph. Whenever I hear MLF talk about Jordan Love, he says very specifically that they draw up a game plan for the opponent and he is asked to execute that game plan. Now are there things that Rodgers could do that he feels that Love cannot? Undoubtedly. But I don't think they are doing things out there specifically to "evaluate" him. They are doing what they game plan calls for.

My guess is that Getsy would be throwing a bunch of screen passes regardless of who the quarterback is. Honestly I found it to be an odd hire because he was really only brought back to Green Bay because Aaron Rodgers likes him.  I don't recall anyone ever saying that he is some brilliant offensive mind.

[Pakuni]

It's pretty common for teams to sacrifice a potential win or three to develop/evaluate young quarterbacks. Heck, the Panthers might have won another game or two if they had benched Young for Dalton, but that would have been dopey.

You're not wrong, but the key difference here, as Sultan notes, is that Justin Fields isn't a rookie or first-time starter. He has 35 games played and 33 starts. He's well beyond the "let's see what we've got here" stage.
There have been a handful exceptions, but for the most part a QB is who he is at this stage of his career. And for the few who do suddenly get better (Tannehill, Alex Smith) it's usually accompanied by a change of scenery.
I understand why Bears fans hope there's a huge well of untapped potential in Fields and he just needs the right coach to pull it out of him. But more likely than not, what you see is what you've got.

[MU82]

Pak and Sultan: I am definitely not arguing for a game plan that allows for continued "evaluation" of Fields. If the Bears don't know what they have by now, they deserve whatever pain that follows.

[WhiteTrash]

You're not wrong, but the key difference here, as Sultan notes, is that Justin Fields isn't a rookie or first-time starter. He has 35 games played and 33 starts. He's well beyond the "let's see what we've got here" stage.
There have been a handful exceptions, but for the most part a QB is who he is at this stage of his career. And for the few who do suddenly get better (Tannehill, Alex Smith) it's usually accompanied by a change of scenery.
I understand why Bears fans hope there's a huge well of untapped potential in Fields and he just needs the right coach to pull it out of him. But more likely than not, what you see is what you've got.

I agree with this.

Every NFL QB will be better with better OL play, better receivers and a better running game. The concept that Fields just need a better team around him to evaluate his true potential is wrong. For example, if Fields was throwing great deep passes and his receivers were dropping them, everyone (especially NFL coaches) would see he is great in that aspect of his game and just needs better receivers. If Fields is consistently missing wide open receivers, better OL and receivers will not make him much better, but yes, somewhat better.  My point is that Arron Rodgers and Justin Fields are not markedly different QBs just because of their teammates. 

I will say that you can make a logical argument that Fields is a quality QB that with a great team can win big. A strategy of paying Fields modestly and paying for a top line defense is a viable strategy (I would not love it).

In the end, the opportunity to get and the massive professional risk of passing on Williams at number 1 will be too great for the Bears FO and Fields will be a FA.

[MU82]

What if Williams isn't even the best QB in the draft, let alone the best player, and you passed on the opportunity to get the best player (Marvin Harrison Jr) at #1 to reach for a QB?

[WhiteTrash]

What if Williams isn't even the best QB in the draft, let alone the best player, and you passed on the opportunity to get the best player (Marvin Harrison Jr) at #1 to reach for a QB?

What if you drafted Marvin Harrison Jr and only threw screen passes to him? 

[JWags85]

This just typifies the Bears the last few years…

https://x.com/dave_bfr/status/1729514784192704912?s=46

Top 40 draft pick actually performs very well…but has started 13 games in 3 years and can’t stay healthy

[jesmu84]

Poles and Eberflus are buddies with the same agent.

Allegedly, Eberflus was Poles choice without outside influence.

I don't see Poles getting fired after this season. I'm hesitant to believe Poles will fire Eberflus.

I'd be totally fine if Eberflus accepted a demotion to DC and they bring in all new other staff, though I'm not sure that's realistic.

[Pakuni]

What if Williams isn't even the best QB in the draft, let alone the best player, and you passed on the opportunity to get the best player (Marvin Harrison Jr) at #1 to reach for a QB?

Landing a franchise QB is so much more important than landing a great receiver, that you have to take the risk.

[Jockey]

Maybe it’s not poles and Eberflus. Maybe Fields is just bad - Trubisky 2.0.

It’s pretty obvious by now that he can’t read defenses any better. Running and screen passes. 46% of his throws yesterday were behind the line of scrimmage. Most of the others were less than 5 yards. We have enough proof that he cannot succeed as a pocket passer.

The Bears OL has been better than adequate, the RBs better than average and receivers are at least average. Justin is the weakness.

[WhiteTrash]

Poles and Eberflus are buddies with the same agent.

Allegedly, Eberflus was Poles choice without outside influence.

I don't see Poles getting fired after this season. I'm hesitant to believe Poles will fire Eberflus.

I'd be totally fine if Eberflus accepted a demotion to DC and they bring in all new other staff, though I'm not sure that's realistic.

Makes some sense but Kevin Warren didn't hire either of them and Poles has no clout to fight a change, except resigning himself. Poles would not get another opportunity in the NFL as a GM so he has to cover his butt first. Friendship is great but it only goes so far in a dumpster fire.

Eberflus may be a decent coach and he was given a horrible situation. Honestly I thought 6 wins would be a decent year, and maybe they can get there. My problem with him is Getsy has been an undeniable failure and his defense has been terrible (28th in the NFL), which I did not expect from a defensive guy.

[MU82]

Landing a franchise QB is so much more important than landing a great receiver, that you have to take the risk.

That's fair.

I keep going back and forth on Williams. I'm gonna be real interested in reading about where the big shots have him rated once we get into the offseason.

It's impossible not to love Harrison. It's been a long time since a receiver with his combination of size, speed and skill has been available.

[jesmu84]

Maybe it’s not poles and Eberflus. Maybe Fields is just bad - Trubisky 2.0.

It’s pretty obvious by now that he can’t read defenses any better. Running and screen passes. 46% of his throws yesterday were behind the line of scrimmage. Most of the others were less than 5 yards. We have enough proof that he cannot succeed as a pocket passer.

The Bears OL has been better than adequate, the RBs better than average and receivers are at least average. Justin is the weakness.

Running and screen passes called because that's all Fields can do or that's what Getsy thinks is a good plan? Those things aren't mutually exclusive either.

The OL is decent/good now because they're finally healthy - preseason/beginning of the year they were not.

The RB room is solid and TE is fine.

WR are, at best, average. Look at stats like separation and they aren't good.

Watching breakdown like JT O'Sullivan and you see Fields has flashes of awesome and also serious deficiencies. But he also notes significant issues with the offense as a whole.