“Justin Wheels”
There is no doubt that Justin Fields has faced many obstacles throughout his NFL career, but his troubles started long before then. Throughout his final year playing college football, Fields was projected to be one of the top two quarterbacks taken from his draft class.
Once the season ended, there was a lot of talk raising unnecessary concerns about his health and leadership, which ultimately made him fall to the 11th overall pick. Of course, some of the criticism against him was valid, at least when it came to his throwing mechanics and ability to read a defense. But the analysts who say Fields doesn’t love football have been proven wrong multiple times, even before Fields entered the NFL. Fields' response to all of this was to just let his play do the talking, and so far, he is definitely proving everyone wrong. And let me tell you, Bears fans wouldn’t have it any other way.
The three quarterbacks taken before Fields were Trevor Lawerence, Zach Wilson, and Trey Lance. Fields has outperformed every quarterback from his draft class except Lawrence. Justin played 12 games during his rookie season. In those 12 games, he had 1,870 yards, 420 rushing yards, nine touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and a 73.2 passer rating. Fields for sure struggled his rookie season, but it didn’t help that his previous coaching staff didn’t know how to use or protect him. Through 13 games this season, Fields has 2,048 passing yards, 1,000 rushing yards, 23 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and an 86.2 passer rating. Now that Fields has a coaching staff that calls plays to Fields’ strength, we can see exactly what Fields is capable of.
Going into the season, there were a lot of concerns around Fields’ throwing mechanics and ability to read a defense. During the off-season, Fields worked day and night to fix his throwing motion and footwork. Safe to say it has for sure paid off, as Fields has almost 180 yards more, throwing the ball in only one more game as his rookie season.
Normally that wouldn’t be much of an improvement, but when you look at his supporting cast this year compared to last, it is certainly impressive. As for his ability to read a defense, I don’t think it has been a problem for him. In college, a lot of analysts said reading an opposing team’s defense was one of Fields' biggest weaknesses, but he had a stacked wide receiver room in college. He didn’t need to go farther than his second read because they were always open. With a terrible offensive line protecting Fields throughout his NFL career, he also doesn’t have time to get that far into his reads. When Fields is given the time, we have seen him get through his reads, but most of the time, he doesn’t have the opportunity.
With a terrible supporting cast around him, the only way the Bears stay competitive in their games is because of Fields. Week after week, there is some sort of highlight of Fields pulling off some large scramble, shifting momentum in their favor. It wasn’t until week nine that Fields’ running game started to take off though. In week nine, against the Miami Dolphins, Fields ran for 178 yards breaking the NFL record for most rushing yards from a quarterback in a regular season game. Fields continued his impressive play from the ground, ultimately leading to him rushing for 1,000 yards through only 13 games. In week 15 against Philadelphia, Fields became the third quarterback in NFL history to run for 1k yards in a single season. Although this is a huge accomplishment for any quarterback, in Fields’ post-game interview, he was asked if he planned to rush for 1,000 yards every season; his response was, “No, sir.”
I think it is quite obvious Fields loves the game more than most players in the league do. During college, Fields almost lost his chance to play during his junior season of college due to the pandemic. But Fields went to social media, becoming the biggest advocate to play that season. Fields was also the last person who needed to play; he already had solidified himself as one of the best quarterbacks from his class. That wasn’t what he was concerned about, though. He just wanted to play because he loves the game. Also, Fields has definitely proved himself to be the leader we all knew he could be. After several games this season, there is some sort of report coming out of him giving credit to his defense. With that being said, Fields has certainly found himself a home in Chicago.
Justin Fields' accomplishments from the 2022 NFL season (Through week 15):
Most rushing yards from a quarterback in a regular season game
The third quarterback in NFL history to have 1,000 rushing yards in a single season
Most rushing yards from a quarterback in a single season in Bears history
The only quarterback in NFL history to have three 50-yard rushing touchdowns over their career (accomplished this in less than a month)
The only quarterback in the Super Bowl era with several rushing touchdowns of over 60 yards in the same season
one of two quarterbacks in the last 30 seasons to have 100+ passing yards, 1+ passing touchdowns, 70+ rushing yards, and 1+ rushing touchdowns in an opening half