Takeaway No. 1 from Matt Nagy Interview: Justin Fields was always the guy
With Andy Dalton getting the start the season Justin Fields was drafted, there was an idea that the Chicago Bears weren’t all-in on the former Ohio State Buckeye.
That rumor has seeped into this new regime, however, Nagy cleared the air on whether his staff wanted Justin Fields or not.
"“We wanted to make sure that we handled Justin [because] we knew [he] was our future,” Nagy said. “We wanted to handle him and do everything possible to make sure he succeeded.”"
It makes sense why the Chicago Bears wanted Justin Fields coming out of Ohio State.
The team was coming off the release of a questionable choice with which Nagy wasn’t involved with — Mitchell Trubisky. Therefore, once Nagy had the chance to get his quarterback, it makes sense that Justin Fields checked the boxes.
After an amazing run with the Buckeyes, Justin Fields is heading to the NFL 👏 pic.twitter.com/8NkwxUfHyB
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) January 18, 2021
In Fields’ season prior to the NFL Draft, Justin Fields led the Ohio State Buckeyes to a first-place seeding in the Big Ten East, with a record of 6-0 in the regular season.
On top of that, the Buckeyes won the Sugar Bowl, while losing the College Football Playoff Championship against Alabama.
Fields finished his final year at Ohio State with a 70.2% completion percentage (158 completions off 225 attempts) for 2,100 passing yards, 22 passing TDs, and 6 INTs.
On top of that, Fields combined for 383 rushing yards and 5 rushing TDs.
While Matt Nagy didn’t have the time to develop Justin Fields that he wishes he did, there was never a question of whether Justin Fields was their guy. The Chicago Bears were all-in on Fields being their future.