After trading up to draft Justin Fields with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, the Chicago Bears parted ways with the struggling quarterback for just a conditional sixth-round pick. The Pittsburgh Steelers seem to be the big winners of that trade through his first three games with the team. One NFL analyst thinks the Bears could be regretting that move.
“I’m talking to you, Chicago Bears fans,” said Chase Daniel via The Facility on FS1 this morning. “The Bears might be second guessing trading Justin Fields. Look at what he has done through three games with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s one of four quarterbacks right now that are undefeated. You look at what he’s doing, he is taking a very bad offensive line in Pittsburgh and he’s helping them out. He has 90 rushing yards through three games.
“Look at the other side of the spectrum. Chicago Bears, Caleb Williams, DeAndre Swift, their starting running back, has 70 rushing yards through three games. Caleb Williams is not helping out that horrible offensive line. You continue what you’re doing Justin, I’ve always believed in you…Keep stacking days, you’re gonna come out on top.”
Through three games, here are the complete stat lines for each quarterback.
Justin Fields: 55-for-75 (73.3 percent), 518 yards, 2 touchdowns, an interception, 28 rush attempts, 90 yards, and a touchdown.
Caleb Williams: 70-for-118 (59.2 percent), 630 yards, 2 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, 11 rush attempts, 67 yards.
To be fair, these were Williams’ first three NFL starts. Fields had 38 starts with the Bears that didn’t go so well with a 10-28 record as the starting quarterback.
Fields always had this potential, but wasn’t living up to it for various reasons. Whether it was the coaching instability, or the poor offensive line and receiving corps surrounding him. The Steelers obviously have stability with the coaching staff, but it’s not like Fields has a top-notch receiving corps around him in Pittsburgh right now.
Usually quarterbacks don’t turn things around 40 starts into their career, but that appears to be happening for Fields right now.
I think the Bears are probably plenty happy with drafting Williams, even if it isn’t off to a great start at 1-2. But you have to consider the totality of how they handled their quarterback situation over the last four years.
They swapped their No. 20 pick and gave up a 2021 fifth-round pick in addition to 2022 first and fourth-round picks to move up to No. 11 to draft Fields. They then traded him for a 2025 conditional sixth-round pick and used their No. 1 overall pick on Caleb Williams. Hindsight is always 20/20, but they probably could have gotten franchise-altering draft compensation to move off the No. 1 pick to build the team around Fields.
The story is far from over with these two, but it will be fun to compare their careers for the next several years.
