After being the 5th quarterback selected in his draft, and falling to the Chicago Bears, after being doubted his entire career, after having 2 head coaches in 2 years, Justin Fields has proved the haters wrong, once again.
Fields has become a breakout star from the quarterback position, solidifying himself as the best quarterback from his draft class, and vying for top 10 quarterback in the league. Against the Dolphins, Fields set the regular season rushing record with 178 yards, edging out former Falcons and Eagles quarterback by 5 yards This is a sign that not only is he showing his well documented athletic ability, but it has become a bonafide problem for defense, as even though he lost to the DOlphins by 3, he threw for 3 touchdowns and rushed for another. Fields has accumulated 749 rushing yards this season, and if he continues with this pace (not counting for the exponential rise as the season has progressed) he will surpass Lamar Jackson’s 2019 rushing record by a quarterback by over 50 yards. The best part about his meteoric rise has not been his heuristically amazing rushing games, but his steep improvement in his passing ability. DUring the aforementioned game against the Dolphins, Fields accrued a Quarterback rating (QBR) of 95.5, around 20 points higher than any of his other performances, and had one of the best fantasy performances by a quarterback all year. On average Justin Fields has also raised his completion percentage by around 10% within the past 3 weeks, as not only has he been passing for more yards, but also with better efficiency. Fields has propelled himself into the better half of the league, and with his physical ability, there is no limit to where he can go.
The question then stands, how has this happened? Justin Fields has had 2 head coaches in 2 years. Fields has had to adapt to 2 vastly different schemes within the true beginning of his career, to most this would be a major setback, stunting their career before it can be realized, but not for Fields. At the beginning of the season, Fields showed his inability to look past his first read, as Fields would lock on to his receiver, and if they weren’t open he would throw an ill advised “he’s down there somewhere ball” which more than likely ended up incomplete or as an interception. To combat this issue, the Bears coaching staff has implemented a system that would get rid of this issue. They have simplified the offense, where the first read is the only and main read. If the first read is not open, then he tucks and runs. Simple. This can be seen as the cause for the steep rise in his rushing numbers. Fields has more confidence leaving the pocket, and he does it at a higher clip. This newfound confidence transitions to the passing game, Fields now goes into the huddle without uncertain thoughts, no longer does he have to make the complex 4-5 read plays that take any NFL quarterback years to master, he just has to make 1, pass it, or run like your life depends on it.
Justin Fields has finally shown Bears fans what he can be, a dynamic, game changing, franchise quarterback, something fans have been dying for since Jay Cutler. Fields can be the savior to the organizations, but he will need to continue his rise to stardom, if so, he will be well on his way to Canton.
