Chicago Bears Building Block: Justin Fields, QB
Justin Fields is obviously the main player the Chicago Bears are looking to build around for the future. The first-round selection for the Bears in the 2021 NFL Draft, Fields has starred in his sophomore year as a dual-threat quarterback, playing very productively and breaking records nearly every week.
Expectations were high for Fields coming out of Ohio State, but his rookie season under former head coach Matt Nagy was inconsistent, to say the least. Coming off a rookie season where he accumulated only 2,100 total yards in 12 games (10 of which he started), the new Bears regime in Matt Eberflus and Ryan Poles did not have any ties to the Fields as he was drafted by the previous general manager Ryan Pace.
Heading into the 2022 season, many speculated that Fields was auditioning for his job and his place amongst the new regime. Despite a general lack of offensive talent when compared to other NFL rosters, Fields seems to have proven himself as the long-term answer behind center for Eberflus and Poles.
Through 12 games so far this season, Fields has accumulated 2800 total yards, with 21 touchdowns versus 11 total turnovers. Fields has unfortunately struggled at times as a passer this season, ranking 27th in the NFL in total passing yards and is tied for 19th across the league in passing touchdowns.
This can generally be explained by questionable blocking, a lack of explosive wide receiver play, and debatable play-calling down the stretch of many games, but nonetheless, it would be nice to see Fields not only continue to develop as a passer through the end of the season but to also see him continue to elevate the players around as he has done so far.