Bears overreactions: Justin Fields will fetch first-round pick in trade?

By appointing Eric Washington as their new defensive coordinator and Shane Waldron as their new offensive coordinator,

the Bears have successfully navigated the first two obstacles of a crucial offseason.

The focus will return to general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus’s significant quarterback selection now

that the coaching staff is nearly complete.

Naturally, that’s the main topic in the first of several offseason mailbags before a decision that will define the franchise:

Does the decision to keep Matt Eberflus change how they should go about the QB situation?

The continuity makes me think they should press forward with Fields. But is continuity worth more than Caleb Williams?

Retaining Eberflus doesn’t, in my opinion, provide the Bears an advantage when selecting a quarterback. Reliability is crucial.

That’s beyond a doubt.

However, by removing the majority of the offensive staff, the Bears have already neutralized the continuity argument.

Fields will be working under his third offensive coordinator in four seasons, even if he makes a comeback.

Fields is incredibly talented. This has been more of a topic than it seemed when he dislocated his thumb in Week 6, at the very least,

thanks to his continuous improvement. As a passer, he improved.

He began to escape with the mindset of a passer, which enhanced his quarterback play all around.

If the Bears had acquired the No. 2 or 3 pick through the Panthers, the debate might have been different.

However, I believe it will be nearly impossible to continue with Fields and pass on Williams.

Despite his development, Fields continued to struggle greatly when things got tight.

Fields’ passer rating of 53.4 placed him 39th out of 40 quarterbacks who completed at least 50 throws in the fourth quarter of this season.

Bailey Zappe was the worst of all. In the last quarter, he had the third most interceptions, tied for 26th place in touchdown passes,

and finished 28th in yards.

Thirty-one quarterbacks threw at least 20 passes this season while trailing with four minutes or less remaining in the game.

Fields ranked 29th in passer rating and 28th in completion percentage and was tied with Jordan Love and

Aidon O’Connell for the most interceptions.

Fields hasn’t shown an ability to elevate his game in the got-to-have-it moments.

We haven’t even talked about the contract part of the Fields-Williams discussion.

If you pass on a quarterback deemed one of the three generational prospects since Peyton Manning (Andrew Luck,

Trevor Lawrence, Williams), you have to have all the evidence you need that the guy you have has everything

required to be a Super Bowl-winning quarterback.

The Bears don’t have that with Fields.