It’s clear that the Bears got it right when they picked quarterback Justin Fields in the first round this year.
With the Bears sitting 3-6, the deepest under water they’ve been during Matt Nagy’s time as coach, the rest of this season is essentially a runway to the future.
Set aside for a moment that since going 12-4 in his first season, Nagy is 19-22 and has scored the sixth-fewest points in the NFL.
That’s a conversation for January.
That blueprint begins with protecting him, something the Bears didn’t do for Mitch Trubisky.
The early reviews on Borom at right tackle are positive, but a three-game sample isn’t enough to make a determination on his viability.
Jenkins is a total mystery.
Jenkins had back surgery in August, and there’s been no indication from the Bears about when he’ll start practicing other than current left tackle Jason Peters saying late last month he thought it’d be sometime in November.
Mooney leads the team with 36 catches for 450 yards and two touchdowns and is on pace to crush his totals from last season.
Fields will need a go-to tight end, and Cole Kmet just surpassed the yardage total from his rookie season with six catches for 87 yards against the Steelers.
The Bears face a very difficult decision at running back, where David Montgomery was very good in 2020 and got off to a great start this season before hurting his knee.
The Bears need to see whether they could save substantial money by molding sixth-round pick Khalil Herbert into a multi-purpose back.
The Seahawks, Buccaneers and Rams were among the best teams in the NFL last season despite their starting quarterback eating at least $25 million in salary-cap space.
The Bears will never get a better value than the next four seasons, with Fields set to count $15.4 million from 2022 through ’24 and get a modest bump on his fifth-year option in ’25.
Bradley Rukstales was the first person from Illinois to be charged in the breach, and in August he became the first Illinois resident to plead guilty to his role in the riot.
During this trip, I intend to write dispatches from Ghana and other African nations.