Possible Leap in Fantasy Ball For Justin Fields

Public confidence in Justin Fields' abilities to attain a higher level as a passer seems to grow each day.

One sure measurement is fantasy football, and Fields has been held with high regard there since the end of last year, but mainly because of his running ability.

SI.com fantasy expert Michael Fabiano has Fields ranked as the 77th best player to take in a fantasy draft and No. 7 among QBs. Most ratings have been in that area, no better than No. 6 overall.

Fields' running ability makes for more fantasy points so he's naturally ascended higher and faster here than in league rankings by reality football analysts.

However, now it seems Fields is being held with even higher regard.

Pro Football Focus released its fantasy rankings this week. Their podcast with fantasy experts Jon Macri and Nathan Jahnke is an eye-opener.

Macri calls Fields a player he would take in the fifth round of a fantasy draft, in the 49-51 range. Beyond that, he said something startling.

"I think if he develops as a passer, getting some help from DJ Moore coming in, we could be looking at potentially a QB-1 season from him this year.

"He's one of the reasons I feel a little bit more comfortable waiting on a QB or missing out on the Josh Allen or Jalen Hurts type in the early rounds. I have a little bit of faith in Justin Fields kind of taking that next step this year and obviously that will lead to more fantasy succcess, as well."

The feeling on the podcast wasn't entirely unanimous as Jahnke thought it was better to take one of the top four or five QBs early instead of receivers or backs. He also pointed out Fields inaccuracy as a passer but had to admit this can improve.

JUSTIN FIELDS QB1 SZN 🚨 pic.twitter.com/yQB8eTkkch
— PFF Fantasy & Betting (@PFF_Fantasy) July 20, 2023

"There are quarterbacks who make a big jup in accuracy from one year to another when they're still younger," he said, although he did call it more of a gamble taking Fields here and avoiding quarterback earlier.

They're definitely right about younger passers improving accuracy. All they need to do is look at last year's darling of fantasy world and analysts everywhere, Hurts. His completion percentage was worse than Fields' was after two seasons. He had completed 59% while Fields is at 58.7%.

It made all the difference in the world for Hurts getting A.J. Brown in 2022. Fields has "Moore" help now, so to speak.

What those who look at career completion percentages and other numbers with younger passers fail to realize is sharp improvements don't necessarily get reflected in year-to-year numbers but can be found within season.

In Fields' case, everything he did before Week 5 last season looks miserable. Check out his numbers after Week 5 for his last 11 games and it's totally different: 57.3% first 16 games of his career to 62.9% completions the last 11; 70.3 passer rating to 92.2; 9 TDs and 14 interceptions to 15 TDs and seven INTs; and 6.9 yards per attempt to 7.1 yards per attempt. Even his rushing improved greatly, as he gained 5.3 yards per carry his first 16 tames and 7.9 yards since then.

Fields' improvement would have been all the more obvious without his last appearance, the rout the Bears suffered at Detroit when he and the entire team were terrible. That one game knocked his passer rating down for this stretch of games by four full points. It came after the team finally had obviously at least psychologically given up and gone into tankathon mode for the top draft pick.

So it's easy to see why Fields remains a player fantasy owners see as a rising star. As for those questioning him for this season in the real football world, they need to do their homework more.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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