Since the dawn of the Super Bowl era, the Chicago Bears have seen no fewer than 11 quarterbacks start at least one game during their rookie season. Justin Fields will become the 12th on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. To say fans are excited about it would be an understatement. Fields provided a number of teases last week against Cincinnati as to what he is capable of. They want to see what he can do with a full week of practice to prepare.
That led to an interesting question I asked. Looking back across those other 11 rookies in their first starts, what were the results? More importantly, did they offer any sort of idea whether the QB himself would be any good in the future. So I went back and compiled the data. It was quite educational, to tell the truth.
- Bobby Douglass (1969): 4-of-9 for 41 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs
- Gary Huff (1973): 9-of-19 for 79 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs
- Bob Avellini (1975): 9-of-25 for 109 yards, 0 TDs, 3 INTs
- Jim McMahon (1982): 16-of-27 for 223 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs
- Will Furrer (1992): 9-of-23 for 89 yards, 0 TDs, 3 INTs
- Moses Moreno (1998): 18-of-41 for 153 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs
- Cade McNown (1999): 17-of-33 for 255 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs
- Rex Grossman (2003): 13-of-30 for 157 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs
- Craig Krenzel (2004): 13-of-25 for 168 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
- Kyle Orton (2005): 15-of-28 for 141 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT
- Mitch Trubisky (2017): 12-of-25 for 128 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Quite a list of names.
The first takeaway? Bears fans probably should temper their expectations for Sunday. Fields is a talented young man but the odds favor him having an up and down afternoon. That isn’t a bad thing. Merely a step in the process of getting better. Where it becomes interesting is looking at the details. Based on those numbers, the best performer of the bunch was McMahon.
Most would agree that of all the Bears quarterbacks mentioned, he remains atop the list. It is fascinating to see how even his first start in the NFL helped to illustrate that. Not only that, but it also offered a sneak peek at the type of quarterback he’d be. One who finds a way to win (the Bears beat Detroit 20-17), but also puts the ball in harm’s way a little too often. McMahon finished with 100 touchdowns and 90 interceptions in his career.
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Justin Fields has a pretty low bar to clear
That is at least something working in his favor. Not a single one of the rookie quarterbacks listed above finished with a passer rating above 100. Most didn’t even get above 70. So Fields doesn’t exactly need any sort of herculean effort to top them. Then again he isn’t worried about that stuff. He is focused on one thing and one thing only. Doing whatever he has to in order to make sure the Bears win.
The Browns won’t make it easy. Their defense is talented at every level with a pass rush that already has 35 pressures through two games. Myles Garrett and that front will look to harass Justin Fields as often as possible. Will he be able to play through that and still execute? This is a trial by fire every quarterback must face.
Whether they’re ready or not.
The Bears tried to buy Fields more time. Unfortunately, the brutal nature of the NFL changed those plans. Andy Dalton got hurt. Now it’s on him. The team is confident in his ability. He feels he is ready. This should be a fun ride starting on Sunday.