Chicago Bears: Projecting rookie roles for the upcoming season

It is no doubt that the Chicago Bears put together a very solid draft. They addressed their positions of need and came away with some great talent for the future. With the season looming over us in a couple of months, it is interesting to think about how the rookies will contribute to the team. How much will Justin Fields play? Will the rookie lineman establish themselves as future pieces? There are many questions surrounding what kind of roles the rookies will play.

Head coach Matt Nagy has shown that he is ready to play a rookie if they show that they can handle it. Darnell Mooney was a good example from last year, as he earned more playing time by utilizing the limited reps he got at the beginning of the season. He was able to become the WR2 on the depth chart and has established himself as an important part of the Bears offense. Hopefully, some of the rookies from this year can do the same.

Justin Fields, QB – Chicago Bears

There have been many debates about when Justin Fields will play, and some have even argued he should be starting Week 1. I predict he will be the starter somewhere around Weeks 4 or 5. While he is the backup, his job is to soak up all of the information he is learning from the coaches and Andy Dalton and use it to be ready to go when he gets his turn. The good thing is the talk coming out of the first OTAs was that he is ready and willing to learn, which is exactly what you like to hear.

As great as we expect Fields to be, he is a rookie. It is going to be a learning process and there will be ups and downs, as expected. The Bears could be a playoff team, but with a very tough schedule and competitive conference, the odds are slim. The rest of the team has to play hard every day and cannot rely on a rookie quarterback to do it all. Fields’ role will be to develop into the quarterback of the future, just as we have seen with other top quarterback draft picks. As Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace have stated, this is a long-term project that might take a year or two.

I have no doubts Justin Fields will be ready to go when Nagy makes him the starter. Once he has that down, it will be interesting to see how he develops as a leader on and off the field. I hope to see a lot of snaps with Fields behind center, but there is always a chance he does not play to the last part of the season. Matt Nagy says he has a plan to develop Fields, let’s just hope it works out this time.