People often think the goal of becoming a great quarterback is only fixing your weaknesses. Yes, that is part of the idea. Justin Fields came in with questions about his processing speed and footwork in the pocket. He has worked tirelessly to fix both, showing signs of steady progress towards the end of last season and throughout the spring. However, the truth is every quarterback must work to improve all phases of his game. That includes areas that are perceived strengths. To his credit, Fields seems to understand this.
While most of his time is spent working on his deficiencies, that hasn’t stopped him from continuing to hone what made him a success last season. He’s worked on his conditioning as a runner, improving his lower body strength through running back drills. Also, he seems to have further polished his deep ball. Alex Shapiro and Josh Schrock of NBC Sports Chicago had a conversation about the Bears quarterback. Shapiro pointed out that Fields’ accuracy on deep strikes seems to have improved considerably since last year.
Justin Fields has the weapons to be lethal this year.
All one has to do is look at his arsenal. D.J. Moore, Darnell Mooney, and even Chase Claypool are proven deep threats in the passing game. That is before you include Velus Jones and rookie Tyler Scott with their verified 4.3 speed. This receiving corps is perfectly suited to Fields’ strengths. Last season was a frustrating one for him. He completed only 35.3% of his passes beyond 20 yards or more. That is down from 44.2% in 2021 when he ranked 5th-best in the NFL. Reasons for the dip range from shoddy protection to inadequate weaponry and having to learn a new offense.
Most of those problems were addressed. The Bears added two new starters to the offensive line in Nate Davis and Darnell Wright. Moore is a legitimate #1 target. It’s also the second year in the same system under Luke Getsy. Everything is coming together for Justin Fields. So it shouldn’t be a total surprise his primary strength as a passer has begun to re-emerge. If he gets the necessary protection, the Bears should experience far more explosive plays than they did last season.
Subscribe to the BFR Youtube channel and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
Like the old saying goes Speed Kills…and the Bears offense has speed in aces! Not just on offense with WRs, RBs, and QB; but also, plenty of speed throughout the defense as well. Both units plus the special teams have speed, speed, and more speed. Vastly improved in all 3 phases of the field and definitely going to create many mismatches against every team this year. Can’t wait to see what happens starting game 1 against GB and a walk-off win 27-10.
Big plays are great but they usually end up with a HUGE hit on the QB….. I’m NOT ‘ok’ with that.
Long bombs are good for sport center but not for the team in general… keep plugging down the fields keeps the ball out of the other team’s offense and wears down their defense…and is safer for the QB…. so
‘deep passes’….. MEH!
if nothing else this group has too be the fastest group of WRs Bears have ever collected, should be fun to watch
I have faith in R. Poles and J. Fields Bears fans are in for a treat this upcoming season with positives even up to being in on Super Bowl presence Poles is not threw finding team needs before opener Have faith he will find our needs no problem
Until he plays a regular season game, nothings improved. The NFL offseason is hell