NFL Combine week always reminds me of the HBO series, —well, in all honestly, almost everything in my life has a way of referencing the show. During the second season, before Tony Soprano was about to kill his best friend Big Pussy for confessing to being a turncoat, Pussy attempted to explain that he was not turning on his family. Rather, he was providing the Federal Agents . As Puss said, “I'm telling you, this disinformation stuff is an effective technique.” The misinformation technique didn’t work well for Puss. However, it can for NFL Teams as their decision makers head to Indianapolis to take in the combine, meet with college players and agents, as well as frame trades and spread their misinformation. The news will grab headlines, and even when it doesn’t make sense when framed against the games played last season, the wildfire of perceptions when started is hard to contain—like the one blowing in from the windy city, of Chicago.
What cannot be disputed is the facts from the games played last season and the real reasons for teams winning and losing. The Bears have the number one pick overall in the draft—well earned. They want everyone to believe they will trade down to acquire a defensive player, gain more draft picks, and continue the Justin Fields experiment at quarterback. Why not, right? The national media is all aboard the Fields train. Hell, even Femi on the GM Shuffle offers a million excuses of why Fields can turn it all around sooner rather than later. The excuses range from Fields needing a better supporting cast, to needing more offensive weapons around him, to needing more time because he is on a bad team. The Fields supporters contend Fields is a playmaker (which is true as a runner), having a wonderful game on Monday night against the Patriots and that he is growing into the job of a Franchise player. Everything is in front of Fields—all he needs is more time—and like Jalen Hurts, who struggled in his second season, Fields will take the same leap in year three and improve. It’s that easy.
So, why should we believe the Bears' front office when they offer their love of Fields? The current regime at Halas Hall didn’t draft Fields—general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus have no skin in the Fields game, so why would they be willing to continue along with his development, particularly since they attended every Bears game last season? They watched their offense throw for less than 166 yards passing in 15 of their 17 games. For 12 of those games, they were under 150 yards passing, and the Bears had a -137 point differential in games last year. That means they got behind, and their opponents were more than willing to allow them to pass the ball, since the clock, not the Bears, was their opponent, and yet the Bears couldn’t amass yards in the air.