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The inevitable has happened, as Bears head coach Matt Nagy has named rookie quarterback Justin Fields the starter, per Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs. Nagy had repeatedly stated that Andy Dalton was the starter and if healthy, would keep his job, but he changed his tune today. Dalton will practice in full according to Nagy, but Fields is the No. 1 now.
Fields first extended work came against the Cleveland Browns in Cleveland, and it wasn’t pretty. Fields took an amazing nine sacks and completed just 30 percent of his passes for a 3.4 yards average per attempt. But the following week against the Detroit Lions, Fields looked much better, completing 64.7 percent of his passes and averaging 12.3 yards per attempt.
Fields hooked up with Darnell Mooney deep on more than one occasion in that game and showed he can be a threat with the deep ball as well as his rushing ability. He may not be as “safe” as Dalton, but he has exponentially more upside and with David Montgomery out a few weeks, the team needs all the help they can find on offense.