Should the Bears Trade Justin Fields?

Ever since the Bears' 2022-2023 season ended at the beginning of January, media and fans have been speculating on if they will trade Justin Fields and draft Bryce Young number one overall in the upcoming NFL Draft. Fields was drafted only two seasons ago by the Bears but has had no help in achieving his potential. Since Fields was drafted, he has had two different head coaches and two different offensive coordinators with no stable offensive line or big playmakers. Yet, people are still calling to get rid of him. Let us look at why this is the case. To do this, we will compare Justin Fields and Bryce Young's college statistics, resume, and projected outlook in the NFL.

To begin, we will look at the schools each athlete attended, which helps gauge the level of competition and talent around them. Byrce Young was the starting quarterback for Alabama for two of the three he saw playing time in college. Young got playing time as a backup for Alabama as a freshman and then started as a sophomore and junior. As for the level of competition, since Alabama is one of the best schools in college football, they play one of the toughest schedules yearly. Justin Fields attended two different colleges because he transferred. Fields freshman year, he played for Georgia and spent his sophomore and junior season with Ohio State. Since most of his playing time occurred at Ohio State, we will be looking at their level of competition and talent. Like Alabama, Ohio State is also one of the best schools in the nation, so they recruit the best talent and play a more challenging schedule.

With the knowledge of where these quarterbacks played in college, it is time to look at each player's statistics. Since each player has played a similar amount of games in their college careers, comparing them will be balanced. The statistics we will look at for this comparison are completion percentage, passing yards, passing touchdowns, interceptions, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns. These statistics can help determine how effective they were at the collegiate level.

BRYCE YOUNG

Courtesy of NCAA.com

First, we will look at Bryce Young's statistics and awards. Young's completion percentage over three years in college was 65.8%, which means he was an accurate quarterback in college. Analysts believe that with his high completion percentage, he can be an elite NFL quarterback, but it is more difficult to complete passes in the NFL due to better coverage by the defense. As for pass yards and touchdowns, Young had 8,356 passing yards and 80 passing touchdowns. These stats show Young's productivity when given the right circumstances to succeed. In terms of interceptions, Young threw 11 over three years. The low number of turnovers is a good sign for any team looking to draft him because it shows he protects the ball, putting a team in the best position to win games. As for his rushing stats, he rushed for 162 yards and seven touchdowns over his three seasons. These stats show that Young is not a prolific running quarterback. Moving to awards and accomplishments, Young obtained his college career. He was the Highsmen trophy winner in 2021, meaning he was the best player in college football. Young was also the 2022 Sugar Bowl MVP. This Bowl Game is one of college football's more recognized Bowl Games, which is why winning this award is important.

JUSTIN FIELDS

Courtesy of ESPN.com and sports-reference.com

Now we will look at Justin Fields' college stats, college awards, and stats from his first two years in the pros. Justin Fields finished college with a completion percentage of 68.4% which is a higher percentage than Byrce Young, but Young had more throwing attempts than Fields. As for Fields NFL completion percentage after two seasons, it sits at 59.7%. These two completion percentages show how tough it is to complete passes in the pros compared to college. Fields accumulated 5701 passing yards and 67 career passing touchdowns in college. These numbers may look insignificant in college, but the numbers are respectable since he is a dual-threat quarterback. Fields currently has 4112 passing and 24 passing touchdowns in the NFL. Fields' production has been disappointing so far. For a player that was very productive in college, he was expected to produce more.

Another metric used to measure production is interceptions. In Fields' college career, he threw nine interceptions compared to the 21 interceptions in the pros. The spike in turnovers from college to the pros is concerning because he is not protecting the ball as much, putting the Bears at a higher risk of losing. These turnover problems can be addressed in the off-season with training. Looking at Fields rushing production in college, he rushed for 1133 and 19 touchdowns compared to his 1563 rushing yards and ten rushing touchdowns in the pros. While the rushing touchdowns may be lower in the pros, his rushing yards are higher after only two seasons in the NFL. Fields is one of the most prolific running quarterbacks in the NFL. This shows the athleticism Fields has. In terms of college awards, Justin Fields' biggest accomplishment in college was winning the 2020 sugar bowl MVP.

After looking at Young and Fields' stats, we see that Young was the better passer and Fields is more athletic. The statistics are not the only thing that showed Fields' trouble passing. When you look at each players scouting reports entering the pros, it can be seen that Fields had trouble with accuracy and precision in college. Scouts said Fields' weaknesses included: poor release time on anticipatory throws, bad eye manipulating defenses, and when he throws the ball deep, his receivers have to slow down. Looking at his NFL career so far, these weaknesses still exist. If you compare what experts say about Bryce Young, he is coming into the league a better passer. Young's strengths include good accuracy, throwing a good deep ball, leading receivers to correct spots, and he can throw into tight windows. These are all great traits to possess when going pro, especially the ability to make tight throws since the coverage in the pros is a lot tighter.

Another important factor is height since professional athletes are taller than college athletes. Being a taller quarterback is beneficial because you can see more of the field. Bryce Young measures in at six feet even, which, for an NFL quarterback, is on the smaller end. If Young could scramble or run around more, it would be beneficial because he could buy more time to break the pocket and see his receivers. Fields does not have this problem since he measures six foot three inches, an average height for an NFL quarterback, and can scramble.

After analyzing each athlete's statistics, it is clear the best option for the Chicago Bears is to keep and develop Justin Fields. With the lack of a stable offensive line and playmakers, drafting Young would be more detrimental to his development. On the plays where the Bears offensive line collapses on Young, he will have nowhere to go since he is not very mobile. On the flip side, if the Bears' offensive line provides a pocket, he might not be able to use his precision passing due to his small frame and lack of playmakers. Keeping Fields at least allows the Bears to scheme quarterback runs or have Fields calling his own number on a pass play gaining yards that would not be possible with Young. Moving forward, the best option for the Bears is to keep and develop Justin Fields because he has the ability to become a superstar due to his playmaking ability.

References

Becton|, S. (2023, January 17). Bryce Young: College football career, stats, highlights, records. NCAA.com. Retrieved February 25, 2023, from https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/2023-01-17/bryce-young-college-football-career-stats-highlights-records

ESPN Internet Ventures. (n.d.). Justin Fields Stats. ESPN. Retrieved March 1, 2023, from https://www.espn.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/4362887/justin-fields

Justin Fields College stats, school, draft, gamelog, splits: College football at sports. Reference.com. (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2023, from https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/justin-fields-2.html

Justin Fields Draft and combine Prospect Profile. NFL.com. (2020, March 3). Retrieved March 1, 2023, from https://www.nfl.com/prospects/justin-fields/32004649-4576-9504-963d-c33127e80752

2023 NFL draft scouting report: Bryce Young. Detailed NFL Mock Drafts, Player Prospect Rankings, and One of the Largest Mock Draft Databases on the Web. (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2023, from https://walterfootball.com/scoutingreport2023BYoung.php