NEWSLETTER
I’m not one to make grand declarations, but the Chicago Bears absolutely, positively can’t hurt their draft stock this week.
They can’t win. And they can’t lose. All they can do is watch.
With no need to do the heavy lifting this time of the year (the holidays are stressful enough, thank you very much), this feels like an opportune time to re-live some of the Bears’ best moments to this point of the year:
Whew, chile. What a collection of plays that 1 minute, 6 second clip gives us.
Two incomparable touchdown runs by quarterback Justin Fields get the juices flowing. A pair of spectacular one-handed catches keep the good vibes chugging along. Good luck picking a favorite between Darnell Mooney’s OBJ-style catch and Cole Kmet’s snag over the middle. And not to be left out, the Jaquan Brisker interception against the Patriots on Monday Night Football reminds us that the defense contributes every now and again. Bonus points for Brisker to secure the pick after getting kicked south of the border by Mac Jones moments earlier.
In the end, two things stand out to me from the clips above. Firstly, it’s that there is a whole bunch of Fields. And that’s how it should be. We came into the year needing to learn everything we could about QB1. At this point of the season, I think we’ve learned enough to put his name in ink as QB1 going into next season. Secondly, each of those highlights stars a playmaker who will be on the team next season. Heck, it is easy to argue for all of the players making splash plays in the video above to be long-term fixtures in Chicago. Fields and Brisker have multiple years left on their rookie contracts. Meanwhile, Kmet and Mooney will be in the final years of their rookie deals in 2023. And both could make cases for extensions.
It can be tough to see it now with the Bears’ record being 3-10. But if you squint just a little, then you’ll start seeing a bright future. And it begins with players like Fields, Mooney, Kmet, and Brisker. This group needs more help. But at least there are avenues to get it.
