Carmen Vitali
NFC North Reporter
The Chicago Bears are 5-9 after their last-minute loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. The playoff push that never really was is now out of reach (though they haven’t technically been eliminated) so it’s time to think about next year.
Chicago has a big decision to make this offseason.
It’s one of the most polarizing topics among an NFL fanbase, and really, the national audience given how big a market it affects. The Bears may not carry the attention the Dallas Cowboys do, but their storied franchise and the sprawling Chicago ties around the country make them one of the NFL’s most followed teams. Therefore, one of the biggest conversations in the NFL world involves what they do with quarterback Justin Fields.
There are two realistic paths general manager Ryan Poles can take: move on from Fields or keep him on the roster for 2024, implying he’s a future face of the franchise. We’re going to examine both timelines.
Let’s start with establishing where Fields is as a quarterback after 35 total starts and 10 this season.
Through 10 games (Fields missed four due to a thumb injury), Fields has completed 181 of his 295 passing attempts, giving him his highest season-completion rate of 61.4%. That ranks 27th among qualified passers this season. He’s thrown for 1976 yards, 14 passing touchdowns and eight interceptions. He’s also recorded 488 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Fields’ yards per attempt are 5.1, down from 7.1 in 2022. His interception rate of 2.7% ranks 25th in the league.
In his second season under offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, and after the additions of Nate Davis and Darnell Wright to the offensive line, along with wide receiver D.J. Moore and a host of skill-player depth, the expectation was that Fields would make the coveted ‘third-year jump’ we’ve seen out of many players — most prominently Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts. I wrote in September about how that…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/the-justin-fields-conundrum-breaking-down-the-bears-branching-offseason-timelines
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Publish date : 2023-12-20 22:36:58
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