Five games remain. Justin Fields hasn’t done enough to solidify his spot as the starting quarterback. That much is obvious based on the raging debate among fans and media. Many believe Fields isn’t the problem. It’s the incompetence of the coaching staff. He’s shown enough to justify more time, hopefully with a better play caller in place. Others believe this is who Fields is. While a phenomenal athlete capable of short bursts of star-caliber play, his inconsistency will likely never disappear. He still takes too many sacks, seems to crumble in the 4th quarter, and is terrible with ball security.
Even so, many former players believe the best course of action for GM Ryan Poles is to keep building up the roster around Fields. They did a good job adding D.J. Moore to the mix and bolstering the offensive line. Another strong infusion of talent could finally give him a playoff-level supporting cast. However, not everybody agrees with that approach. Former Bears executive Josh Lucas believes the best thing for Chicago to do is trade Fields and start over with a rookie quarterback. He explained his reasoning on the Hoge & Jahns podcast.
Remember, this is one of the guys who helped draft Fields in the first place.
He’s stuck in a middle ground where he has played better but not better enough. It feels like another Jay Cutler situation. He shows enough flashes of brilliance that you wonder if a coaching change might be the key to him finally realizing his potential. Two new head coaches and four new offensive coordinators later and it’s still not happening. The harsh reality is franchise quarterbacks tend to show themselves relatively early in their careers. Fields hasn’t done that. He isn’t a draft bust, but neither was Mitch Trubisky. Even he was a more consistent passer in Chicago than Fields has been.
Poles has the final say on what will happen. He didn’t draft Justin Fields. It isn’t crazy to think he’s always had plans to make a change, but he decided to give the young man an opportunity. Many GMs wouldn’t have done even that. Nobody will say the situation was ideal. Poles has had to tear down and rebuild the roster. It was a difficult challenge for Fields. Still, he had plenty of chances to establish himself as an upper-echelon guy. That hasn’t happened. Teams can only have so much patience.
