It has been one week since the Chicago Bears selected quarterback Justin Fields with the 11th pick in the NFL Draft. Bears fans and media have been upbeat and ecstatic due to the selection of the Ohio State quarterback. That excited mentality has already led fans to want Fields to start immediately and that the quarterback will not fail one bit. It is this type of mentality that is dangerous for Bears fans and has been apparent with past quarterbacks.

Bears' Fans Have A Mistake Of Setting Quarterbacks Up For Failure

Setting high expectations and thinking the world of a promising new quarterback is a mistake made repeatedly with Chicago Bears fans. For a franchise mired in quarterback futility, it is easy for the team's fanbase to get overt excitement whenever a new quarterback has the smallest amount of potential. Bears' fans have yearned for an All-Pro level quarterback for generations that whenever a quarterback that appears to have that talent level is acquired, fans instantly lose their minds. A prime example of this was when the Bears acquired quarterback Jay Cutler from Denver in 2009. Cutler was coming off a Pro Bowl season in his third season with the Broncos. The Bears traded for the Pro Bowl quarterback after a falling out with new Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels. Cutler was seen as having the best arm in the NFL, and many believed he was on the cusp of an All-Pro career.

Bears fans instantly anointed Cutler as a savior and began questioning not whether he would win the Bears a Super Bowl, but how many. The 2009 Chicago Bears were viewed as a Super Bowl favorite because of the quarterback acquisition, despite having multiple other issues with their offense. When Cutler later struggled with the Bears, whether due to play-calling concern with the coaching staff, offensive line protection, and support talent, fans fell out of favor with the quarterback they loved quickly. Following Cutler's knee injury in the 2010 NFC Championship Game, many Bears' fans resented the quarterback from that point on. This was due to the excitement and unachievable expectations they had set immediately following the trade for the quarterback in 2009. Once it appeared the high expectations wouldn't be met, Cutler was despised, despite playing well during his Bears career.

Another example of fans not tempering expectations was Mitchell Trubisky's rookie season in 2017. Although many fans disliked when the Bears drafted Trubisky with the second overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, their perceptions changed after how the rookie quarterback performed in the preseason. In the rookie's preseason debut against the Broncos, he completed his first ten passes, including a touchdown pass at the end of the first half. With Trubisky's performance in the preseason coupled with starting quarterback Mike Glennon's struggles, fans wanted the rookie quarterback to start the season, despite his immense lack of experience.

When Glennon struggles carried over to the regular season, fans wanted Trubisky to start immediately. Due to a need to win and fans calling for the rookie, the Bears named the North Carolina quarterback the team's starter for their week five game against Minnesota. Although Trubisky played decent in rookie season, he was forced into starting well before he was ready, which would later hamper his development later on in his career.

Bears Fan Can't Make The Same Mistake With Fields

With Fields as the future quarterback for the Bears, fans appear unable to control their emotions again. Many believe that the rookie should start immediately over starter Andy Dalton, who serves as a bridge until the rookie quarterback is ready. Although Fields has all the physical traits to start immediately, he needs time to sit and learn the game. Unlike Glennon in 2017, Dalton is a proven quarterback who has been named to multiple Pro Bowl and has led the Cincinnati Bengals to consecutive playoff appearances.

Head coach Matt Nagy, who has wanted to work with Fields for quite some time, has already stated that the rookie quarterback will not play until he is fully ready. Nagy understands the importance of having a rookie quarterback sit until ready to play. When Nagy was the Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator in 2017, the team had rookie quarterback Patrick Mahomes sit most of the season. Mahomes only started the final game of the season against the Denver Broncos because Kansas City had clinched a playoff spot and decided to rest quarterback Alex Smith.

No matter how well Fields plays in the preseason or looks in training camp, fans need to avoid the temptation of calling him to start before he is ready. Furthermore, Bears' fans need to not set lofty expectations for the rookie quarterback when he does take the field during the regular season. Fields will have good and bad moments in the early part of his career, and fans can't use those moments as a final determination of how the quarterback's career will pan out. Fields has a tremendous opportunity in front of him to become a great quarterback for the Chicago Bears. If he does end the cycle of futile quarterback play for the Bears, it will take time, and fans need to realize that. As much as Chicago fans want to see a top-tier quarterback, they must avoid wanting to have the rookie play before he is ready. Bears' fans have viewed bad quarterback play for quite some time, but it has not been helped by their un-checked expectations.