The Chicago Bears have come under fire this offseason for how the new regime has handled second-year quarterback Justin Fields. Particularly his lackluster supporting cast, led by wide receiver Darnell Mooney.
CBS Sports ranked every offensive triplet group in the NFL — featuring a quarterback, running back and wide receiver or tight end. While no one expected the Bears to rank near the top of the league, it’s also shocking that they landed at 30th with the trio of Fields, David Montgomery and Mooney.
The Bears checked in dead last in our offensive infrastructure rankings, so it makes sense that they’d fall near the bottom of this list as well. Fields is wildly talented, so he has the chance to make this ranking look silly. However, he’s likely not going to be put in position to succeed, due to the lack of overall talent around him. Montgomery showed he can handle a three-down workload last year and Mooney developed chemistry with Fields, but this group does not have enough help from the rest of the unit to inspire much confidence.
Here’s a look at some of the trios that rank ahead of them:
- Texans (29th): QB: Davis Mills, RB: Marlon Mack, WR: Brandin Cooks
- Giants (28th): QB: Daniel Jones, RB: Saquon Barkley, WR: Kenny Golladay
- Jets (27th): QB: Zach Wilson, RB: Breece Hall, WR: Garrett Wilson
- Panthers (26th): QB: Sam Darnold, RB: Christian McCaffrey, WR: D.J. Moore
- Steelers (25th): QB: Mitchell Trubisky, RB: Najee Harris, WR: Diontae Johnson
- Lions (24th): QB: Jared Goff, RB: D’Andre Swift, TE: T.J. Hockenson
While it’s fair to not have Chicago among the top half of the league, this feels an awful lot like projecting concerns about the Bears offense as a whole — which has been the popular thing for the national media to do this offseason — rather than those three specific players.
But if this is truly about those three players listed — Fields, Montgomery and Mooney — there’s plenty to debate about Chicago’s ranking. Montgomery has established himself as an impactful running back while Mooney is coming off a 1,000-yard season. It’s Fields who’s the least proven of the three.
