After his electric finish to the 2022 NFL season, expectations are high for Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields entering 2023, his second year as a full-time starter.
But ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky put even higher standards on the former Ohio State star, claiming he expects “MVP-level football” from Fields this season in an appearance on First Take Monday morning.
“Before the [2022] season, I said [Chicago] was the worst place for anyone to play quarterback,” Orlovsky said. “It was a bottom-five skill group and a bottom-five offensive line. Justin Fields played good in the worst situation possible.”
Now, according to Orlovsky, the situation is far better for Fields. He has a new weapon at wide receiver in D.J. Moore, who Orlovsky considers a “bonafide No. 1 wide receiver,” and the Bears beefed up their offensive line in the offseason by drafting Darnell Wright from Tennessee in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.
.@danorlovsky7 is expecting "MVP-level football" from Justin Fields this season 👀 pic.twitter.com/xagn8d2o61
— First Take (@FirstTake) July 31, 2023
Plus, Orlovsky points out that Fields should make strides given that it’s his second year playing under offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, in a system Orlovsky says “takes good quarterbacks and gets them to produce like really good quarterbacks.”
“On average, when a quarterback plays in this system going into their second year… The average statistic performance for year two… is 4,100 yards and 32 touchdowns,” Orlovsky said, citing other players such as Kirk Cousins and Matt Ryan, who’ve played in the system.
After a slow start in 2022, Fields’ numbers took off down the stretch. In his final 10 games, he threw for 14 touchdowns and accounted for seven more on the ground, and he rushed for 949 yards in those games. A big second-year jump from those numbers would produce some eye-popping figures and could vault Fields into the MVP conversation.
The major thing that could hold Fields back for a prestigious award like that is winning on the field, which is what Orlovsky ultimately cited, saying he didn’t believe Fields would be in the conversation for the award because of his team’s struggles. But given Orlovsky’s eye for quarterback talent, it’s certainly eye-opening to hear his excitement for Chicago’s signal-caller in 2023.
