NFL analyst Warren Sapp believes the Bears are preparing to trade quarterback Justin Fields, whom they drafted with the No. 11 overall pick in 2021, and want to take Alabama's Bryce Young at No. 1 this spring. Sapp's claim would be a surprise, considering Fields was exceptional at times as a second-year starter this season, throwing for 2,242 yards and 17 touchdowns while also rushing for 1,143 yards and eight scores. "What I'm hearing out of Chicago is they're fixing to package him up, trade him for some other pieces and then go with the Bryce kid from Alabama," Sapp said on the "Boone Podcast" this week. Sapp, a Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Super Bowl champion, later said, "there's smoke everywhere talking about them trading Justin Fields and going after Bryce."
I’m glad he is confident, but I wouldn’t spend more that a 5th round pick on him. I watched every Tennessee game and he has terrible touch on long balls, makes poor decisions, and is wildly inconsistent. Can he someday be a decent NFL QB, maybe but odds are against it.
I could 100% see a team trading up to number 1 to get Stroud or Levis. The issue with Young, is if you spend your whole future to get him knowing about his size issues and he gets hurt. You are probably going to get fired by ownership. He is a risky proposition to bet the future on as you watch players like Mahomes, Purdy, Hurts dealing with injuries in the playoffs who are all much bigger. I think Houston can sit at the 2nd and get Young. After watching Demeco's defense, even I am not opposed to taking Will Anderson at 2 and going all in defense. It was nasty.
I agree that Young is too risky to spend multiple picks on, but I do think he was worth 1.1 and now 1.2 on its own. Also, with the injuries in the playoffs, all would have hurt any qb regardless of size. And it even shows bigger ones still get hurt. So I want to focus on the rest of his attributes which are very good on Young.
If DeMeco gets a 5 or 6 years contract, and a long leash from ownership like I suspect, his strategy may well be build the defense this year. It is his signature side of the ball and maybe the 1st year improvement he gets judged on over win and losses. Their should be enough highly rated QB's next year that you could use your draft capital to get one of. You could certainly take a flyer on a less highly rated QB this year with 11 picks (73 ?) or bring in a Bridge QB to compete with Mills. I could see it. Maybe even trade back a couple and add another first rounder, 3 first round picks on defense. It could happen after the Bears pick a a defensive player.
uh, he is anything but a consensus. There have been multiple mocks from Levis, Stroud, Young as the top guy. There are teams that will say No on Young just due to size alone.
I like adding one of the foundational defensive players at #2. Wouldn't it be a great story for DeMeco's first pick to be an Alabama edge like Will Anderson? At #12, I'm open to trading back or even up a bit if a guy they really like slips. Would love to have a couple of 2nds to add talent or add another first next year if the right deal is available.
Just so @raining threes wont think I’m against Will Anderson… Christian Harris, sign Daron Payne then draft Will Anderson and that’s legit with Stingley and Pitre in the secondary. Get another S or CB in the draft/FA and….
So did the DL in the NFL suddenly get that much larger than the SEC? Young has played in the biggest, baddest conference in the country without suffering any major injuries and based on your logic all QBs get hurt no matter their size. And yes there are some outliers that have other QBs going first but the vast, vast majority have Young as the top QB in this draft.
The vast majority of players he faced - even in the SEC - won't make the NFL, where every player is bigger, stronger & faster (not to mention, better prepared, better coached & more experienced) than virtually every single player in college.
I agree with you, but there is enough people on record that have said X that have ran football franchises. Availability is kind of a big deal. See 49'ers.
