Guy Who Drafted Justin Fields Admits Bears Can't Pass On Caleb Williams

Josh Lucas is the former director of player personnel for the Chicago Bears, serving as a right-hand man to GM Ryan Pace from 2015 through 2021. During that time, the team selected two quarterbacks in the 1st round. Mitch Trubisky went in 2017, and then Justin Fields in '21. Lucas explained how the Fields pick came to be. Most in the front office, including himself, agreed that Justin was the second-best quarterback in the class behind eventual #1 pick Trevor Lawrence. However, members of the coaching staff weren't as convinced. In the end, Fields was the pick.

One would think Lucas would be eager to defend the quarterback at every opportunity, especially after the last two games, where he threw eight touchdown passes with 612 yards. However, the former exec had a moment of pure honesty during an interview with Bill Zimmerman of Windy City Gridiron. He was posed a simple scenario. What would he do if the Fields finished the season strong, but the Bears still ended up with the #1 overall pick courtesy of the Carolina trade? Would he keep Fields or opt to select USC star Caleb Williams?

His answer was surprising.

“This is a special quarterback,” Lucas said about Caleb Williams. “It’s as close to a layup as you are going to get when you are taking a quarterback and it probably makes sense to compare it to Andrew Luck.”

Lucas continued, “As much as I love Justin… there’s a lot of uncertainty right now. There’s nothing we can say from his first two years and five games that we have conviction that he’s going to be a quarterback that’s going to take us to a Super Bowl. If he gets to that in the next 12 games it obviously muddies the waters a little bit, but I’ll go ahead and say it right now, if you have that number one pick, and Caleb comes out in this draft, that’s going to be really hard to pass up.”

That answer says a lot about Justin Fields.

It clearly indicates that Lucas doesn't believe in his heart of hearts that Fields will ever be the franchise quarterback Chicago needs to win a championship. While the past two games were fun to watch, they aren't enough to erase the past two years of inconsistency. He needs to perform against better competition in big games before minds change. Meanwhile, Williams continues to dominate in college, with his chances of winning a second straight Heisman looking strong.

A complicating factor in this is Justin Fields' contract. Next year will constitute the last "cheap" season the Bears will have him. After that, the 5th-year option will cost them around $23 million in 2025. If they're going to commit to him long-term, he has to show legitimate progress. That means extending his recent hot streak through most of the remaining 12 games. If he does that, the Bears would feel comfortable sticking with him. If he cools down, rumors indicate GM Ryan Poles won't hesitate to take Williams.