To me, here's why.
Right now, when you look at the state of the Bears, the offensive line is shit and the coaching is shit.
Let's say they draft whomever QB x is, and replaced the coaching staff with better coaches.
Start Fields, and let the rookie sit at least half the year, up until the trade deadline.
By doing that, you take a situation where if you didn't Fields walks away for nothing, and instead you have this situation:
Fields begins the season starting. Lets say you draft new offensive linemen. They will need time to gel. You need time to see what you got. Let Fields take the beating from those growing pains instead of your shiny new toy.
If Fields starts out bad in the new offense, you make the call by game 3-4 and switch QBs, by which the offensive line, if the draft got it right, is now solid for your rookie QB to play behind. You let the rookie learn on the job the rest of the year and Fields walks.
If Fields catches fire, and looks good for the first half of the season, now you have flexibility. Do you want to trade him before the deadline? You might get some actual value out of him if this scenario happens. Or, he could just end up being so damn good, that the GM and staff determine it was bad coaching holding him back this whole time, and you re-sign Fields and have a situation where you now have the flexibility to either trade or just hold onto your first round overall pick.
Thoughts?
*Edit* - Yeah, I thought Fields was in his 4th year, not his 3rd. I changed the title and adjusted the post because I still think starting him next year is the right move, no matter who we draft, for the reasons I stated.
For you trolls who think I can never admit when I make a mistake, there you go.
