Will Justin Fields have a Year 3 breakout like Jalen Hurts?

Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles enjoyed a modest 2021 season, culminating in a blowout playoff loss to eventual Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round. Despite the disappointing loss, people around the league were taking notice of Hurts, and many predicted a breakout season would be close as long as the Eagles’ front office could continue to build around him.

While the 2022 Chicago Bears were not close to that Eagles team — they finished with the NFL’s worst record — there are some parallels to be drawn between Hurts and Justin Fields, who like the Eagles star last year this time, is a popular choice to breakout in 2023.

Quarterback Comparison

Most of the comparisons between Jalen Hurts and Justin Fields have been for their second full season as starters. However, even the season prior (in which Fields played three fewer games) is also quite similar

The numbers are eerily similar, and there are a few things to consider

• Both quarterbacks went through a coaching change after their rookie seasons. Hurts went from Doug Pederson to Nick Siriani, and Fields went from Matt Nagy to Matt Eberflus. Learning a new playbook takes time. It’s the second year in an offensive system that players take off. We saw that with Hurts in 2022, so there should be hope that Fields can replicate that now that he is in his second season with OC Luke Getsy.
• Fields had more passing attempts in fewer games in their first seasons. This is likely attributed to Nagy’s scheme as an offensive coach. Fields’ attempts dropped dramatically in 2022 when a defensive coach in Eberflus took over.
• While the passing yards in their second seasons are skewed, if you add in each quarterbacks rushing yards, the numbers are a bit closer, 3,385 for Fields vs. 3,928 for Hurts.

Following the Blueprint

Like the Bears last year, the 2021 Eagles led the NFL in rushing. They realized that a WR trio of DeVonta Smith, Quez Watkins, and Jalen Reagor was insufficient to help their young quarterback develop. By trading for AJ Brown in the offseason, they established a true number-one receiver, which in turn allowed the other receivers to slide to more appropriate roles.

The Bears made a similar move in acquiring DJ Moore. They hope to follow a similar blueprint of relying on a steady rushing game while giving their dynamic young quarterback plenty of weapons. If Fields can stay on the same trajectory as Hurts, then the sky is the limit for this team moving forward.