The Chicago Bears and their quarterback, Justin Fields, have been the talk at the start of the offseason. Now, Derek Carr and soon Aaron Rodgers will own that discussion. Fields will again be part of the draft process for the Chicago Bears. He played a role in the Bears' selection of Velus Jones Jr. He could be why Ryan Poles is comfortable trading deep in the draft. He may want to match his quarterback up with a trustworthy weapon (Jaxon Smith-Nijgba). Fields could also think, give me another teammate in Paris Johnson Jr. and protect me more.
During an interview with Barstool Sports, Poles said he would rather draft by value than best player available. That is far from Ryan Pace, who drafted the best athlete available. Those are some things to think about how Fields is directly involved with helping his team during this upcoming draft. Another way Justin Fields is assisting the Chicago Bears is by being the clear-cut guy for the job in 2023. If the Bears had to hit the reset button, this draft would go in an entirely different direction. Think about the Chicago Blackhawks' run for 10 years (2007-2017).
If it weren't for having Blue chip potential players in Jonathon Toews and Patrick Kane, the Blackhawks wouldn't have been able to hang tight and build around a foundation. Having those two players allowed them to acquire multiple draft picks in the future to keep the talent flowing around their star players. That still isn't the last thing Justin Fields is doing to help his team this draft season.
Justin Fields reminded people of what the NFL is like when Lamar Jackson is healthy. I know so many people that called him a running back playing quarterback. So much that I agreed. However, that's an advantage to the Chicago Bears, Baltimore Ravens, and whoever drafts Anthony Richardson. It's as if Giannis Antetokounmpo could shoot the 3-point shot like Steph Curry. Bad? How about if Saquon Barkley could throw well enough that teams must worry about it? Having an athlete at quarterback is the ultimate weapon.
Fields is boosting Richardson's draft stock while Richardson is doing the same. It's a fun circle of, "Richardson is too talented to pass up on; did you see what Justin Fields did with little talent around him?" Richardson is the most publicly known athletic prospect (especially at quarterback) since RGIII. I understand that Lamar Jackson and Justin Fields have been drafted since then, but one didn't want to show his gifts because he wanted to play quarterback, and the other didn't get an NFL Combine.
The sky is looking bright, and the Chicago Bears might be able to pull off some draft trades we haven't seen unless you play Madden (the video game). The question remains, will Ryan Poles trade down multiple times and get draft equity for the next two years or trade down one big move and gain equity for three years?