That was a big swing, but it's disingenuous to imply they haven't taken other big swings. They just were whiffs (or are highly debated currently, ala Fields). After all, in recent history, they traded up in the draft to snatch both Fields and Trubisky.
No doubt Trubisky and Fields were big swings, '94. Neither turned out to be anything remotely close to what was expected, but I personally feel both of them could have been serviceable players in the NFL, even starters, if they had gone to other teams. The Bears took players who turned out to be underachievers and made them much, much worse. They ruined Trubisky's career, and may have done the same to Fields.
To take a big swing, though, you need to wait for the right pitch. The Bears always seem like they're trying to outsmart somebody (trading up for Trubisky, taking Fields even when he mysteriously fell down the board on draft day). They end up outsmarting themselves.
Now here's Caleb Williams widely touted as the #1 quarterback in this draft in this "generation," (whatever that means). I'm not necessarily a Williams guy (there's someone else I'm intrigued by), but it would seem to be a no-brainer for the Bears to draft Williams, as it appears to be for everyone else. But the Bears are arrogant. Will they outsmart themselves yet again? Will Virginia get involved and start pulling King George's strings?
The wildcard here is Poles. I don't think he'll puppet himself to bend to the McCaskey/Accorsi/Polian/any-other-NFL-veteran-we'll-be-surprised- to-hear-is still-alive-when-we-hear-the-Bears-are-consulting-them recommendation. Can he hit on a Super Bowl coaching staff and franchise quarterback in one off-season and write his ticket for another 10 years? He has a tremendous opportunity and I find it difficult to believe he is going to settle for retreads in either direction if he doesn't believe in them, and neither Everlose nor Fields has given him enough reasons to believe in my opinion. Poles has to go for it . . .
