Getty Image / Quinn Harris
It’s a prove-it year for Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields. And, if you look at the 24-year-old’s stat line in the team’s first preseason game on Saturday, you’d be pretty impressed.
The third-year player out of Ohio State certainly has all the talent in the world. That hasn’t always been on display in his first two years in the league, however.
It’s important to note that the Chicago Bears gave Justin Fields arguably the worst supporting cast in the league in his first two years. But, the returns in the passing game were pretty bad, even considering the lack of weapons.
Over his first two years in the league, Justin Fields has only 4112 passing yards in 25 starts, a truly putrid total. And, he has 21 interceptions against 24 touchdowns. I don’t care how bad your weapons and protection is. Those are bad numbers in the modern NFL.
He wasn’t necessarily the most advanced passer coming out of Ohio State, due to a pretty simple scheme he played in there that didn’t utilize a ton of difficult passing concepts. But, he has natural talent as a strong-armed and accurate passer. It’s pretty surprising he’s been this bad, to be honest.
On the ground, he’s been nothing short of elite. Last season, he had over 1100 yards on the ground and eight touchdowns. His 1143 yards was the second-most all-time by a quarterback in a single season.
And, they’ve finally invested in improving his offensive line and weapons They acquired DJ Moore in the trade for the first overall pick that landed Carolina Bryce Young, and used the 10th overall pick on massive Tennessee offensive tackle, Darnell Wright. And, they foolishly traded a second-rounder to the Steelers for Chase Claypool last year. Jury’s still out on if that will even remotely work out.
Still, if you look at Justin Fields’ stat line in the Bears’ 23-17 preseason win over the Titans, you’d think he threw the ball remarkably well. Fields was 3-3 for 129 yards and two touchdowns, good for a perfect 158.3 passer rating.
Yeah, about that.
Justin Fields 3 passes:
-3 air yards, gained 11 yards
-2 air yards, gained 62 yards, TD
-2 air yards, gained 56 yards, TD pic.twitter.com/2LvrzwAvuX
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) August 12, 2023
Congrats for completing swing passes, I guess? Don’t try to tell Emmanuel Acho that, though. He’s all in after three preseason routine throws.
Justin Fields is 3/3 with 129 yards passing through 13 minutes of play.
Last year he averaged just 149 yards passing per game.
Justin Fields will show off and go off this year!! 🔥🔥🔥
— Emmanuel Acho (@EmmanuelAcho) August 12, 2023
Come on dude. Who knows, Fields could definitely have a huge year. But, these passes proved nothing.