Add Targets, Protection For Justin Fields

Justin Fields had his moments during a difficult initiation into the NFL. He led the Bears to a victory at Las Vegas and passed for 509 yards in back-to-back games against Green Bay and Minnesota but the lasting picture for Chicago fans is of him running for his life while waiting for a receiver to get open.

Fields got the most painful experience out of the way early, when the Browns sacked him nine times in a September loss in Cleveland. He finished the year having been sacked on 13.3 of his pass attempts, the most among qualifying quarterbacks. The Ohio State prodigy similarly was 31st of 31 qualifiers with a 26.4 quarterback rating, which was no coincidence.

Yet the Bears’ new regime (GM Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus) seems as high on Fields as did Ryan Pace and coach Matt Nagy, who were relieved of their jobs after a 6-11 season, their third consecutive when they were .500 or worse. Poles and Eberflus are constructing their team around Fields, as Pace and Nagy did Mitchell Trubisky.

While they have needs all over the field, their priorities entering this weekend’s draft are to give Fields a fighting chance by adding receivers behind 2021 standout Darnell Mooney and bolster an offensive line that has been a revolving door the last two seasons.

With Allen Robinson jumping to the Super Bowl champion Rams as an unrestricted free agent, Mooney is the only receiver currently on the roster who caught more than 42 passes last year. The good news, if there is any, is this would have been true if the Bears still had Robinson, who caught only 38 passes from Fields and Andy Dalton last season. The Bears have known they would need to add targets for a long time.

Poles, unlike Pace, is seeking to patiently build through the draft. He did not aggressively pursue Robinson replacements available in free agency, like Christian Kirk, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Russell Gage, and hasn’t seemed interested in sacrificing future capital to trade for a veteran like DK Metcalf or Deebo Samuel.

Poles has added receivers in lower-tier free agent signings. Byron Pringle (Kansas City), David Moore (Denver and Green Bay) and Equanimeous St. Brown (Green Bay) add depth behind Mooney but look for the Bears to use at least one of their top three picks — two in the second round and one in the third round — on a wide receiver who they’ll expect to develop into the long-term complement to Mooney.

The debate will be which to take first, a wide receiver or an offensive lineman. They used their first five of seven picks on offensive players last year, landing tackle Teven Jenkins with the 39th pick overall after trading picks to move up in the draft for Fields.

Back surgery limited Jenkins to six games in his rookie season but he finished strong, providing hope that he can be an anchor for the line that protects Fields in 2022 and beyond. But Jenkins and guard Cody Whitehair are the only holdover players who seem assured of major roles on the line next season.

It doesn’t say much for the group that departing guard James Daniels and 39-year-old Jason Peters, an emergency acquisition due to Jenkins’ surgery, were the most highly rated Bears offensive lineman last season. Pro Football Focus ranked the 24-year-old Daniels 19th among guard and Peters 21st among tackles. Daniels signed a three-year, $26.5-million deal with Pittsburgh while Peters remains unsigned, and may yet re-sign with the Bears.

Sam Mustipher was listed 36th among centers, with Whitehair grading out 46th among 49 qualifiers at guard.

Poles used his limited capable in free agency to add guard Lucas Patrick, who had started 28 games in Green Bay the last two seasons, but he was ranked only 30th of 39 centers last season. He had reached an agreement to sign guard Ryan Bates, a restricted free agent, but Buffalo exercised its option to match the offer.

Poles is credited with playing a major role in helping Kansas City land All-Pro center Creed Humphrey from Oklahoma with the 63rd pick in last year’s draft. He has studied the current draft class intent on pulling off a similar steal for the Bears.

It’s asking a lot to think the former Chiefs personnel man will land a Humphrey or Tyreeke Hill in his first draft as general manager. But Fields’ development depends on improving the group around him, and there’s no more imperative task for the Bears’ new regime.