I Am Officially Jealous Of The Patriots. Just Make Fields QB1 Already
A bold move by a bold man mere days before the season. Cutting the veteran starter and rolling with your new toy and first round pick. Mac Jones did seem to make the decision somewhat easy, it appears. Sounds like he was the better player all camp long by all reports
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Wait....
People are scared that poor O-Line play will ruin Justin Fields' development. But…
That's not everything. I am aware. At some point though you need to just roll with the guy who gives your team the best chance to win. Nagy and Pace owe that to the other 52 guys on the roster not named Andy Dalton.
Andy Dalton wasn't good last year in Dallas. In fact…he was one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL. You could explain that away with being new to the system, injuries, poor O-line play, but all of those same issues theoretically exist in Chicago too. I know he has a relationship with Bill Lazor, but this is Nagy's offense and Nagy is calling the plays and the last time Dalton was on a team with a winning record was 2015. If Dalton is the answer Nagy is looking for then I don't know what the question is.
Fields will be the starter at some point this year. Either through an injury to Dalton (Dalton hasn't played a full 16 games since 2017) or through sheer incompetence and stagnation by the offense. Fields at least gives this offense a chance to extend and make plays right now. It gives them a chance to make the most out of Allen Robinson and Darnell Mooney. It gives them a chance to have Fields develop a rapport with the future of the offense; Mooney, Kmet, and Monty. And if you're worried about rushing him or his development…how can he develop if he isn't getting reps in practice? How can he develop if he isn't working with Robinson and the other starters? Fields needs to play because he's both seemingly earned it and because he needs to get better.
If you want to win…well, lets not get ahead of ourselves. If you want to have a chance…let Fields spin it. Having a redheaded statue back there for week 1 or week 12 doesn't help you reach any of your goals. Give the people what they want. Give the team what they need. Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid. Play him