One thing became apparent as the NFL draft drew near. The Chicago Bears wanted a quarterback and the guy they had eyes for was Justin Fields. Sources informed SM of this weeks prior and the evidence only continued to pile up as the 1st round got closer. None more so than head coach Matt Nagy appearing in person at Ohio State’s second pro day. However, as everybody knows, wanting a player and getting him are two different things.
The Bears had a big problem on their hands. They sat at #20 in the 1st round. There was just no way Fields was going to fall that far. It would be a minor miracle if he even made it out of the top 10. So if Chicago hoped to get him, they’d have to move up. Calls were placed to every team that might consider trading down. Soon a picture began to form. If the Bears were going to have a shot at Fields, it would likely be somewhere in the 8-12 range.
There was some genuine sweating among fans when the picks began to fall.
Carolina at #8? Cornerback. Denver at #9? Cornerback. Eagles trade up to #10? Wide receiver. Amazingly Fields had fallen out of the top 10. Nagy and GM Ryan Pace recognized the moment. They had to strike. Ross Tucker talked with the Bears head coach on his podcast. He asked to describe the feeling at that moment when the team really began to work the phones to make their move. Nagy’s answer says it all.
It’s been apparent for almost two weeks now since the draft happened that Nagy is elated. This is a white whale he’s been chasing for over a year. His infatuation with Fields began way back in the spring of 2020. That was when his good friend, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day, tipped him off that the young quarterback had a chance to be truly special. Something Nagy kept in the back of his mind as it became clear the Mitch Trubisky experiment wasn’t going to pan out.
Matt Nagy doesn’t just have “a” guy. He has “his” guy
This is somebody that Nagy clearly believes. Somebody he has studied for a long time and grown convinced can be exactly what the Bears have been missing for so long. It’s hard to argue with his assessment. Nagy played quarterback for years. He coached quarterbacks for even longer. Rumors were he correctly predicted Patrick Mahomes would be a superstar in 2017. So that offers serious hope that Fields can be something similar.
The talent won’t be the issue. Size? Arm strength? Mobility? This kid has everything a quarterback needs to succeed in the NFL. It comes down to whether he can handle the incredible information this level provides and process it at a high enough speed. That is what eventually sank Trubisky. So one can imagine Matt Nagy made sure to evaluate Fields carefully in terms of his mental acuity.
By all accounts, that shouldn’t be a problem.
The Bears are thrilled to have him on board, but now the real work begins. Nagy knows acquiring the player is half the battle. It falls to him and the rest of the coaching staff to do everything in their power to help Fields get where he needs to be. That means putting a structure around him that the young QB can win with. A challenge he’s looking forward to.