Justin Fields - Fantasy Points Outlook

What You Need to Know:

• The Bears landed Fields at 11th overall in the 2021 draft. He was the 4th QB selected.
• Limited by former HC Matt Nagy’s fascination with Andy Dalton and rib, ankle and hand injuries, Fields went on to start only 10 games. He also missed 1 game on the COVID list.
• The rookie ranked top-10 in fantasy scoring 4 times, with 3 such finishes coming over his final 5 games.
• His rushing production was key. Fields totaled 72-420-2, highlighted by games with 103 and 74 yards.
• Playing behind a bad O-line, Fields’ passing was never consistent.
• He ranked 29th among 33 qualifiers in on-target rate. Note: He dealt with the 3rd-highest drop rate in the sample.
• Among 33 QBs with 250+ dropbacks, Fields ranked 21st in YPA, 27th in PFF passing grade and 33rd in adjusted completion rate.
• He did push the ball down field, ranking 2nd behind Russell Wilson in average depth of target.
• Per USA Today’s Doug Farrar, Fields had the NFL’s highest passer rating (138.5) on designed rollouts. They were called on only 7% of his passes, though. Look for that number to grow in 2022 under a new staff.
• The Bears have 213 vacated targets, with the biggest chunk coming from new Ram Allen Robinson.
• Chicago failed to upgrade Field’s supporting cast. Byron Pringle, Equanimeous St. Brown and rookie speedster Velus Jones are the primary candidates for snaps behind Darnell Mooney.
• This O-line doesn’t look much better. The play of OT Teven Jenkins will be key; the 2nd-year Round 2 pick played only 6 games following back surgery.
• New OC Luke Getsy arrives after spending 3 seasons as Green Bay’s QBs coach. He’s never called plays at the NFL level.
• He’s spoken highly of Fields. From early May: "I've been super impressed with him, I really have," Getsy said. "There's no one in the 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.”
• HC Matt Eberflus talked up Fields’ deep ball in June, indicating that it’ll remain a key aspect of the offense.

Draft Sharks Bottom Line:

While there’s some refining to be done, we love Fields as an uber-talented passer.

His rushing upside is clear. And an upgraded coaching staff helps boost the case for a 2022 breakout.

However, a lack of playmakers makes it tough to place Fields much higher than the middle of QB2 range. Like so many QBs around him, the 2nd-year man projects as a matchup-based spot-starter.