From Kennesaw, to Athens, to Columbus and finally to Chicago. That’s where Justin Fields’ football journey has taken him since he started playing organized ball in 2015. If we were to fast forward three to four months, there may be another city added to that list. In this piece, I’m going to figure out whether that should be the case.
Fields has always been a highly touted prospect, electing to begin his career at the University of Georgia.
Unfortunately, he was never able to overcome Jake Fromm and only saw limited action as a Bulldog. He’d end up transferring to the Big Ten’s Ohio State University, where the path to starting was clearer.
Head Coach Ryan Day needed a quarterback who could take advantage of the overwhelming talent on the offensive side of the ball. Someone with the arm talent of Cardale Jones, but the running ability of Terrelle Pryor. Fields fit that profile precisely and after joining the Buckeyes in 2021, he’d never look back.
Posting a touchdown-interception ratio of 41-3 in his first season starting certainly turned heads. With one of the most dominant NCAA receiving cores of all time (Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison Jr.), Fields looked to be a can’t-miss prospect.
While he showed NFL attributes at times, there were still plenty of questions about his game. Many around the league questioned how much of Fields’ success was from a dominant receiving corps that always seemed to be wide open or if it was Coach Day’s system. Regardless, it was clear some weaknesses were being overlooked while his strengths were being undervalued.
Fields finished his college career with a unanimous First-Team All-Conference selection as well as twice being named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.
With the season at an end, Fields had propelled his stock to the top ten range, with some analysts ranking him as the 2nd or 3rd best quarterback prospect in the 2021 NFL Draft.
He’d go on to be selected 11th overall by Chicago, as a last-ditch effort by former General Manager Ryan Pace and Head Coach Matt Nagy to save their jobs.
It was an unideal situation for any young quarterback. To have the play of a rookie quarterback dictate the tenure of an organization’s leadership rarely plays out well.
He was thrown into the fire after unsuccessful starts by Andy Dalton. While his accuracy was extremely spotty his rookie year seen in his 58.9% completion percentage, he showed real promise on deep balls. He also flashed a rare running ability that the NFL hadn’t seen.
While he was as explosive as Michael Vick, his 6’3 230 pound frame allowed him to break simple arm tackles. Almost as if Fields had the elusiveness of Vick, but the power of Cam Newton.
The promise Fields showed wasn’t enough for Bears’ ownership to keep Pace and Nagy on board. The team had still struggled as a whole while Fields adjusted to the professional game. He finished his rookie year with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions while throwing for 1,870 yards.
While Fields made plenty of rookie mistakes on terrible decisions that led to interceptions, he showed enough to keep Bears fans hopeful.
He’d face an uphill battle the next year, to continue developing under a regime that held no ties to their former first-round quarterback. To give him this opportunity, Fields first needed to have a full offseason of preparation as the starter.
New General Manager Ryan Poles and first-time Head Coach Matt Eberflus afforded him that opportunity.
2022 would be Fields’ biggest test yet. Without proper play calling and roster talent around him, he undoubtedly failed to crown himself as Chicago’s definite franchise quarterback.
Although, that didn’t mean it was a lost season.
He was again inconsistent as a thrower shown in his 60.4 completion percentage, he showed legendary running ability. The combination of elusiveness and power he possessed helped him gain 1,000 yards rushing in ways never seen before. He’d made it a routine to break a 40-yard run nearly every game in 2022.
That’s about where the positives ended for Fields that season. He struggled throwing in nearly every category but the one that stands out the most is the fact that he only completed 20 passes once in the 18 games he started, easily the worst in the league.
Many account this to the lack of quality play calling from Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy, who never quite trusted him to throw much longer than 15 yards.
Others chalked it up to the help around him. The receivers he was throwing to included Equanimeous St. Brown, N’Keal Harry, Velus Jones, Dante Pettis,and Chase Claypool for the second half of the season. Easily one of the worst corps of all time.
Add a poor blocking scheme into the mix and you’re extremely likely to get shaky quarterback play.
That was exactly what happened in 2022, although there were noticeable improvements.
Noticeable enough that the Bears elected to stick with Justin Fields into the offseason, even though they had the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft with Heisman winner Bryce Young at the top of most boards.
Many draft experts and even fans were calling for the Bears to dump Fields and start over the process of finding a franchise quarterback, although they didn’t listen. New General Manager Ryan Poles prioritized building around Fields to give him another chance the following season.
It started with Poles trading down from the No. 1 spot to No. 9. In which, he acquired Pro-Bowl receiver D.J. Moore along with Carolina’s first and second-round picks in 2023 and 2024. It was an excellent trade to not only get a bonafide weapon for Fields but to build around him with the additional picks.
So far, those extra picks have been used to draft stalwart right tackle Darnell Wright cornerback Tyrique Stevenson.
In free agency, Poles signed former Titans’ guard Nate Davis to a three-year, 30 million dollar deal that was supposed to afford Fields better protection, although he’s been average at best.
Heading into 2023, Fields’ 3rd season, it looked like he’d control his destiny in Chicago since he finally had enough weapons to succeed. The offensive line had been upgraded on paper, Fields was given a star receiver, Cole Kmet was becoming one of the best young tight ends in the league and the running back room was solid.
With another year in Getsy’s offense, the table looked set for Fields to submit his legacy as Chicago’s quarterback for the next decade and a half.
Unfortunately, Chicago would have one of the worst starts of any team in the league.
Frustration turned into “Fire Eberflus” chants after he choked multiple double-digit 4th quarter leads.
For four-six weeks, it looked like Getsy had completely forgotten how to utilize the special abilities Fields possesses. He was trying to use Fields like he was an elite pocket passer, which he isn’t and will likely never be.
The offense completely failed to utilize star receiver D.J. Moore. The Chase Claypool trade was looking more and more like a disaster with each passing week. Eberflus and Getsy looked to be auto-piloting the team.
Eight weeks of the season were over and it was looking like a complete failure. While the majority of fans were ready to give up, the team was ready to show how persistent they were.
Almost seemingly after Chase Claypool was dealt to Miami, the team went through a transformative change. Instead of Getsy trying to mold Fields into the ideal NFL quarterback, he started to cater to his strengths.
Over the last five weeks, Fields hasn’t put up eye-popping numbers but he’s managing the game much better than before. He’s led the Bears to a 4-1 record over the past five weeks and has helped them become one of the hottest teams at the end of the season.
The point is, that Chicago has finally found a formula to win with Fields. It doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be any coaching changes going into next season, but there is hope for this roster and this quarterback.
Is there enough hope to keep him around for 2024 and possibly beyond?
I think so.
Fields still deserves the chance to quarterback a team with the right pieces around him, both on and off the field.
He’s making undeniable progress and while he has this elite running ability, it would be a mistake to give up on him now.
If Chicago can walk out of the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft with a new starting offensive tackle and a wide receiver to go along with D.J. Moore, Fields could make Chicago a real playoff contender and possibly a division winner in 2024.
Although there’s been plenty of rough spots, the worst is far behind Fields. If you’ve gone through all this to develop him, why get rid of him now?
If Chicago continues to give him support, there’s no reason why he can’t eventually hit that ten-foot ceiling of his. If Ryan Poles can pass on the outstanding talents of Caleb Williams at No. 1 overall, the Bears could have something special in 2024.