The Chicago Bears selected Justin Fields, a quarterback from The Ohio State University with the 11th overall pick in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Justin Fields lit up the college world, having only 2 losses in the 2 years that he played for the Buckeyes. In 2020, Justin led the Buckeyes to an undefeated regular season and won the Big Ten Championship after beating Northwestern. Ohio State would be given the ability to play in the CFP where the Buckeyes would be successful in defeating the Clemson Tigers who had beaten them the year prior in the 2019 playoffs. Fields and the Buckeyes would fall in the National Championship to Alabama and Justin announced early in 2021 that he was forgoing his final 2 years of eligibility to declare for the NFL Draft.
2021 Season for the Chicago Bears
After an abysmal downfall with former quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, the Bears opted for the young Justin Fields. Having fallen to 11th overall, the Bears thought they had a steal with many reporters saying that Fields wouldn’t fall out of the top three. The Bears had originally had Fields sitting on the bench to develop behind veteran quarterback Andy Dalton, but after Dalton went down in week 2, Fields was catapulted into the starter role much sooner than many had expected. In his debut start against the Cleveland Browns, Fields was sacked 9 times, 4.5 of which came from Myles Garrett. Fields finally won his first career start the following week in a 24-14 win over the Detroit Lions. He completed 11 of 17 passes for 209 yards and had 1 interception. Fields would finish the season 2-8 as a starter finishing 5th in QB rushing yards, and first among rookies, but also had the third most quarterback fumbles and the second most lost fumbles.
2022 Season for the Chicago Bears
Bears fans were excited to see how Fields would bounce back after a very lackluster rookie season. Fields started the year with a 19-10 win over the San Francisco 49ers but would then lose 4 of their next 5. The losing streak would come to an end in week 7 after defeating the New England Patriots on primetime Monday Night Football. A couple of weeks later in week 9 against the Miami Dolphins, Fields would break the former NFL single-game regular season record for quarterback rushing yards having 178 yards on the ground. The previous record stood for 20 years by former Eagles and Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. Weeks later after suffering an injury and returning in week 13, Fields became the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to rush for a touchdown in 6 consecutive games although the Bears would end up losing to the Packers. The season would come to a close and the Bears would finish with a 3-14 overall record. Although having a breakout season having 1,143 rushing yards, which made him the third quarterback after Vick and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season, Fields also led the league in sacks taken (55) and fumbles (16).
2023 Season and the Future with the Chicago Bears
The 2023 season has arrived and many thought in the preseason that Justin Fields would be a legitimate MVP-caliber player this year. Although Fields has not been that same electrifying MVP-type player through the first two-thirds of the season, the Bears are still in a rebuild and Fields has been playing well. Nothing spectacular by any means but the Bears fans are searching for the answer to their prayers. Justin Fields hasn’t been amazing in his career thus far but the question to be asked is whether it’s his play as a quarterback, or if the lack of weapons and pieces around him, paired with poor coaching decisions is what’s driving those results. It will be interesting to see how the Bears respond to the ongoing question marks of whether or not Justin Fields remains the face of the franchise, or if they turn to another new rookie quarterback with up-and-coming stars like Caleb Williams or Drake Maye.