3. Big plays are awaiting through the air, and the players know it
Dating back to his college days at Ohio State, Fields is a quarterback who loves to let it fly. He is a deep ball fanatic and has a cannon for an arm. Thinking about Fields connecting on eye-popping plays with guys like Equanimeous St. Brown and Dante Pettis last year should make some of us laugh.
Fields placed several deep balls where only his receivers could get them last year, but didn't have the top-end talent to throw to. Now, with a weapon like D.J. Moore who is a phenomenal deep ball tracker, Fields should enjoy even more success in that department.
Justin Fields was the most accurate passer on throws of 31-40 yards, and it wasn't close. pic.twitter.com/ixZ8MqZEbp
— Johnny Kinsley (@Brickwallblitz) March 8, 2023
As you can see in the above graphic, Fields is as good as it gets at those intermediate-to-deep passes, but his completion percentage is among the league's worst because of the lack of talent he's throwing to.
Fields' 11.7 yards per completion last year were over an entire yard more than Lawrence. This goes to show you, yet again, that simply looking at box scores and basic stats will only take you so far. You have to look beyond the everyday stats in order to see the full picture.
Having Moore, Darnell Mooney and even rookie Tyler Scott on the field for some big play scenarios is going to be fun to watch in 2023.