Justin Fields Reportedly Somehow Improved His Biggest Strength

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.