Justin Fields Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Bears HC Matt Eberflus said Friday that WR Chase Claypool will play against the Dolphins this weekend. He added that it could be anywhere between 10-35 snaps. That's obviously a huge range -- but even 35 snaps would only be a little over half of the game. Claypool isn't a viable Week 9 fantasy play, although he does give QB Justin Fields' passing upside a boost.

The Bears are trading a 2nd-round pick to the Steelers in exchange for WR Chase Claypool, ESPN's Field Yates reports. It's a steep price for a guy who's been mostly disappointing since a flashy rookie season. Claypool ranks 52nd among 62 qualifying WRs in Pro Football Focus' 2022 receiving grades. His 1.03 yards per route run ranks 57th -- a bit behind teammates Diontae Johnson (1.16) and George Pickens (1.14). Of course, Claypool is still just 24 and brings a 6'4, 238-pound frame with 99th percentile athleticism. There's still intriguing fantasy upside here. Chicago is obviously a rough landing spot, though. QB Justin Fields has been better lately but remains a question mark as a passer. And this is the league's run-heaviest offense. The Bears rank dead last with just 20.0 pass attempts per game. That's climbed to 22.8 over the last 5 weeks -- but that's still not a workable number for Claypool. Consider him a WR4 unless we get a significant increase in passing volume from Chicago. Claypool's departure from Pittsburgh should mean more targets for Johnson, Pickens and TE Pat Freiermuth.

Bears QB Justin Fields ran for 60 yards and a TD and threw for 2 more scores in Sunday's loss at Dallas. He went 17 of 23 passing for 151 yards and TDs to WR N'Keal Harry and TE Cole Kmet. It was Kmet's 1st TD since Week 13 of 2020. WRs Darnell Mooney and Dante Pettis tied for the team target lead at 5. Mooney caught all 5 for 70 yards, accounting for 46.4% of Chicago's passing yardage. This game follows 3 straight top-12 fantasy finishes among QBs for Fields. He looks like a starting candidate going forward, including Week 9 against Miami.

Bears QB Justin Fields completed 15 of 21 pass attempts for 208 yards and a TD in Sunday's loss to the Vikings. He took a mere 2 sacks and avoided turning the ball over. (Fields did fumble twice, but Chicago recovered both.) The QB added 47 rushing yards on 8 attempts. It's not enough to make him attractive for Week 6 fantasy use. But it's a positive compared with what else we've gotten from the Bears' offense so far.

Bears QB Justin Fields logged just 17 pass attempts in Sunday's 23-20 win over the Texans, completing 8 for 106 yards, 0 INTs and 2 INTs. Through 3 weeks, Chicago has 10 fewer pass attempts than any other team in the league, with the next lowest being a Giants offense that has yet to play in Week 3. WR Darnell Mooney (6 targets) and TE Cole Kmet (3) assumed their expected positions as Chicago's target leaders, but the shares won't matter until the Bears begrudgingly throw the ball more. Each guy caught just 2 balls vs. Houston.

Bears QB Justin Fields completed 7 of 11 attempts for 70 yards and 1 INT in Sunday’s loss at Green Bay. Laughable. The Bears ran only 41 plays, hurt by going a combined 1 for 8 on 3rd and 4th downs. There was simply nothing positive to take away from this one, outside of Fields scoring on a 3-yard run in the 1st quarter. Late in the game, he had a 6-yard rushing score wiped out following a review. He looked to get in on the next play, but the officials thought differently. He’ll look to rebound at home vs. a young Houston defense.

The Bears didn't need QB Justin Fields to do much in a rain-soaked victory over the 49ers Sunday. He completed 8 of just 17 pass attempts for 121 yards and 2 TDs, plus an INT. Fields found WR Dante Pettis for a 51-yard score in the 3rd quarter and Equanimeous St. Brown from 18 yards out in the 4th. The QB added just 28 yards on 11 carries. The weather definitely dampened the Week 1 production. We'll see whether a Week 2 visit to Green Bay can help make Fields a true fantasy starting option for a Week 3 home date with Houston.

Chicago has been hit with heavy rains this morning. It looks like the worst of it will be gone by kickoff of 49ers-Bears, but there will be lingering showers -- and a wet field. The forecast also calls for 15-20 mph winds. Less than ideal scoring conditions, although this looked like a low-scoring game anyways. Expect lots of running from both teams.

Insider Jordan Schultz hears that QB Justin Fields has "blown away" the Bears' coaching staff in camp. “His mechanics have improved, he’s in great shape, he works at it and he really cares. [OC] Luke [Getsy] loves him," a source told Schultz. That's obviously encouraging -- although we still wish Chicago surrounded Fields with a better supporting cast this season. He's still capable of QB1 production thanks to his rushing ability, but Fields is more exciting in dynasty leagues than redraft.

Adam Jahns of The Athletic writes that Bears QB Justin Fields “seems to be stacking more good throws and moments in camp.” Chicago’s rolled out a number of combinations at WR and along the O-line, largely due to injuries. So it hasn’t been the easiest environment for the 2nd-year passer — especially when he's also been tasked with learning new OC Luke Getsy’s system. It’s the talent-thin pass catching corps that leaves Fields as a QB2 to open the season.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler says he's "told" the Bears like the way QB Justin Fields has developed this offseason. Specifically, the 2nd-year QB has reportedly quickened his release when passing and improved at throwing on the move. "The Bears are excited for offensive coordinator Luke Getsy's system, which should give Fields more space to operate," Fowler writes. Even if you're not ready to fully buy in on Fields, he's going 15th among QBs in FFPC ADP and 16th on Underdog. There's plenty of fantasy upside from that range even if Fields struggles from a real-life perspective.

Bears HC Matt Eberflus talked up Justin Fields’ deep ball ability at OTAs. “I would say, ‘Man, he throws a good deep ball,’ ” Eberflus said. “I’m excited about that. And you could see it in the seven-on-seven and 11-on-11s, and we’re gonna take our shots down the field and, man, he does a nice job doing that. And that’s what stands out to me.” Fields wasn’t afraid to go deep last year, posting the league's 2nd highest intended air yards per attempt (33 qualifiers). A lack of weapons is troubling, but the arrival of Round 3 pick Velus Jones at least supplies another deep threat alongside Darnell Mooney.

New Bears OC Luke Getsy commented on the development of QB Justin Fields. ‘‘I’ve been super-impressed with him, I really have,’’ Getsy said. ‘‘There’s no one in this building that works harder than him. There’s no one that cares more than him. We’re off to a great start. He’s really accepted this challenge. We’re asking a lot of him, to learn a lot of new things. He’s been a pleasure to work with.’’ Formerly Green Bay’s QB coach/pass game coordinator, Getsy is expected to implement “a mix of outside-zone and read-option runs with a vertical passing attack,” per beat writer Pat Finley. Getsy’s almost certainly an upgrade over the old regime. But a lack of weapons around Fields for 2022 remains a serious concern.

The Bears are set to hire Luke Getsy as their new OC, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Getsy has spent the past 3 years as the Packers' QBs coach and passing-game coordinator under Matt LaFleur. Getsy previously worked under Mike McCarthy in Green Bay and has coaching experience at 6 different colleges. He held the OC title at Indiana (PA) in 2011 and 2012 and at Mississippi State in 2018. That Bulldogs team ranked outside the top 60 in total yards and points. Getsy is largely an unknown heading into 2022. The Packers, meanwhile, are expected to promote offensive line coach Adam Stenavich to OC.

The Bears are hiring Matt Eberflus as their new HC. The 51-year-old has been in the NFL since 2009, working as a LBs coach in Cleveland and Dallas before getting the DC job in Indianapolis in 2018. Under Eberflus over the past 4 seasons, the Colts ranked top 10 in points allowed, yards allowed and takeaways. We'll see who he tabs to run the Bears offense.

The Bears fired HC Matt Nagy. This move has been anticipated for weeks now. Nagy went 12-4 in his first season at the helm but totaled only 22 wins over the past 3 seasons. He also didn't seem to maximize QB Justin Fields' skill set this year. Chicago's next HC hire will be key for Fields' development.

Update: Chicago also fired GM Ryan Pace.

Bears QB Justin Fields was placed on the COVID list on Thursday. He'll very likely miss this weekend's finale vs. the Vikings. That figures to put Andy Dalton back under center for Chicago.

Bears HC Matt Nagy said QB Justin Fields (ankle) will put in a full practice on Wednesday and start Sunday's finale vs. the Vikings. Fields has missed the past 2 games, but he finished as a top-10 fantasy QB in each of his previous 4 full games. He's an intriguing Week 18 DFS play.