Few people were as close to the early exploits of Justin Fields’ career as Jason Peters. The former perennial All-Pro tackle started 15 games for the Bears in 2021 — Fields’ rookie season.
Now, after an off-season where Fields buckled down and mashed dingers in his spare time, Peters sees greatness in the young Chicago quarterback. (The veteran lineman remains unsigned by any team.) It’s apparent that despite an occasionally up-and-down rookie campaign, Fields showed enough flash to tease that he could be a superstar signal-caller.
In a recent interview with Sirius XM NFL Radio, Peters did not mince words regarding his feelings on Fields’ potential. With some notable caveats, the future Hall of Fame offensive tackle thinks Fields can be “special.”
Here’s what Peters had to say on Sirius XM NFL Radio:
“As long as the offensive line gives him some time, he’ll do OK this year. Once he gets that offensive line set, that guy’s going to be special because he can throw, he can run, he can make all the plays he needs to make.”
Whoa. That’s high praise from a nine-time Pro Bowler who blocked for Donovan McNabb and Carson Wentz (before he flew too close to the sun).
But, if you’re a Bears fan reading Peters’ glowing sentiments, you’ll probably want to ignore, I don’t know, the first 22 words? Because let’s be frank, as Peters also knows what he’s saying — Chicago’s offensive line is a mess. Actually, they’d be better qualified as an unproven disaster and one few quarterbacks like Fields could excel behind.
The Bears’ current depth chart up front offensively is … not great. It resembles the sort of lineup you pick in Madden when you’re trying to tank for a better draft pick. Why you’d do such a silly thing in a video game, I don’t know. It’s almost as foolish as actual tanking, i.e., wasting valuable time, which is what it seems like the Bears are doing.
Here are the Bears’ projected OL starters in front of Fields. See the carnage for yourself:
- Left tackle — Teven Jenkins
- Left guard — Cody Whitehair
- Center — Lucas Patrick
- Right guard — Willie Wright
- Right tackle — Larry Borom
Let’s see here. That’s a left tackle with multiple back surgeries who barely played as a rookie (Jenkins). There’s a somewhat over-the-hill average veteran (Whitehair). In the middle, you have a capable but fill-in center (Patrick). Then, on the right side, you have Willie Wright (with all due respect, who?) and a second-year player (Borom).
I’m no offensive line coach, but that general lack of experience and all those question marks wouldn’t inspire me much for Fields’ chances in 2022. Fun fact: If you’re going to spin dimes downfield regularly, you need time to do it!
It’s worth noting that, according to Tipico Sportsbook, the Bears are tied for the second-worst odds (+10000) to win Super Bowl 57 next February. By that same token, they have the second-worst odds to win the NFC (+5000) and are tied with the Lions (the Lions!) for the worst odds to win the NFC North (+1000). Ouch.
Suffice to say, oddsmakers don’t appear very bullish on Fields being “special” while elevating a subpar supporting cast to competence. At least not right now.
Sure, new GM Ryan Poles could eventually build a great offensive line for Fields down the line. But that’s not a guarantee, and that, too, will take appropriate time. The putrid set-up the Bears have for Fields as an NFL sophomore is definitely not what Peters had in mind for the quarterback’s potentially special future.
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