The Chicago Bears let the rest of the league know how they felt about quarterback Justin Fields and his ability to be the team’s new face of the franchise when they traded the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to the Carolina Panthers.
With four potential star quarterbacks in the draft in Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Anthony Richardson, and Will Levis, the Bears committing to Fields was an interesting and telling move by the struggling franchise.
Interestingly enough, with the draft now in the rearview for the Bears, a report has surfaced about teams around the league not being sold on Fields’ ability to be successful in the NFL as a pocket passer.
The Bears don’t seem to care about the opinions of the rest of the league as they believe he’s the real deal, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler via Dov Kleiman.
Video: “There is some skepticism that exists among some team officials around the league about his ability to get it done as a pocket passer. Can he be that precision guy that you need from the pocket?”
Adds that the Bears believe the offseason upgrades will help him in a big way pic.twitter.com/bVTYIyclmf
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) May 9, 2023
With a record of 5-20 as the Bears’ starting quarterback, it’s understandable that team officials around the league would be skeptical about Fields being the right man for the job on a long-term basis in Chicago.
However, Fields came into his own during the 2022 season even though the team’s record of 3-14 didn’t exactly show that progress by the Ohio State product.
Fields became a force to be reckoned with on the ground rushing for over 1,100 yards and eight touchdowns to go along with over 2,200 passing yards, 17 passing touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.
The promising young quarterback threw for 10 more touchdowns and rushed for six more touchdowns compared to his rookie campaign in Chicago.
Fields is just getting started and may turn into the quarterback the team hopes he will be in 2023.
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