One of the biggest surprises of the offseason came 24 hours after it began for the Chicago Bears. Team chairman George McCaskey stepped in front of the cameras and revealed he and four other people would lead the search for the next GM and head coach. The man who would take primary charge of that process was Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian. Somebody the McCaskeys have long respected.
The 79-year old was brought in around late November or early December to assess two things. The state of the Bears roster and whether changes were needed at the top. After a thorough month-long evaluation, Polian reached his conclusions. First, GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy had to go. Despite their best efforts, the organization wasn’t where it needed to be because of them. The former exec was slightly more optimistic when it came to the roster. He told Waddle & Silvy of ESPN 1000 what his conclusion was.
“There’s a lot of work to be done,” he said. “The general consensus is that the Bears have 6-9 blue-chippers on this team. That’s not enough. You need 10-12 to be in the hunt. Ryan has a task in front of him to add those kinds of players. There is no question about that. That means it’s not going to happen overnight.”
An interesting assessment for sure.
Essentially Polian believes the Bears are about 3-4 really good players away from competing for a championship. It would’ve been great to hear which players he felt were in that category. An educated guess says Roquan Smith, Khalil Mack, Robert Quinn, Akiem Hicks, Jaylon Johnson, Darnell Mooney, and David Montgomery. It probably doesn’t help that Hicks is a free agent while Quinn and Mack are in their 30s.
So yeah, Ryan Poles has work to do. The more interesting comments from Polian came when the subject of Justin Fields arose. It isn’t a secret the young quarterback is viewed as a vital part of the Bears’ future. The former GM has his own vision for what a quarterback should be. This is the same man who signed Jim Kelly and drafted Peyton Manning. It sounds like Polian believes the young man has plenty of promise and plenty of work to do.
“You look at what Justin has going for him, which is a remarkable arm, great mobility, good size (6-3, 228), good ability to run the ball,” Polian said. “Highly combative (competitive) guy.
“Also, Justin has a lot of work to do to develop into a first-rate NFL QB. It takes four years for a rookie QB to come in and learn the job and be able to compete at the highest level in the NFL. That’s just a fact. It took Peyton Manning four years, and he had more tools to work with than most people.”
Bill Polian is fair in his assessment of Fields
The talent is there. That was never in question. It comes down to whether he can learn the game and execute it at a high level. That takes time. More time than a lot of fans and media have these days. In a world dominated by instant gratification, people tend to call players a bust if they aren’t successful right away. Such was the case with Fields. Despite having few weapons, limited protection, and a nonsensical system to play in.
What Bill Polian said about Manning was true. He had a ton of advantages during his rookie year. A future Hall of Fame running back in Marshall Faulk. A future Hall of Fame receiver in Marvin Harrison. Not to mention an eventual Pro Bowl left tackle in Tarik Glenn. Despite all of those things, he still threw more interceptions (28) than touchdowns (26). The Indianapolis Colts finished 3-13. Polian was undeterred. He made some improvements to the offensive line that offseason and trusted the coaches to do their jobs.
Manning made his first Pro Bowl that 1999 season.
This is where the Bears are at with Fields. The talent is there. Giving him the right coaching and the right supporting cast is what this offseason must be about. They feel they’ve checked the first box with the arrival of head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. Now Poles and the front office must work to fix the other problems of blocking and weaponry.