Bear Digest

The Best Complement to Justin Fields

The player who best complements Justin Fields' passing attack and the current Bears receiver group would be readily available to them at pick No. 1.

Gene Chamberlain

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When Justin Fields found DJ Moore last week for a 39-yard touchdown, he only padded a reputation for being deadly on the deep throw.

The Bears have seen this since he came into the NFL and it continues to improve. It was his seventh TD pass this year on a throw of more than 20 yards without an interception.

He also went into the game against Minnesota when he suffered the injury leading the league in red zone passing grade according to PFF's grading, with eight TD throws.

While many metrics on Fields passing have been good, the one which has been on his side throughout his time in the NFL and college is his deep passing.

According to Pro Football Focus tracking, he entered last week's game with a ridiculous 135.4 passer rating on throws of 20-plus yards. Then he hit DJ Moore on the deep TD pass of 39 yards.

"To be honest, I feel like deep balls, just in general, I feel like it's what I do best, to be honest with you," Fields said. "I think I throw the ball down the field exceptionally.

"It's one of my strengths. I've been doing it since high school, college. I think it's one thing that I do best and one thing that I think we're going to keep doing and get to more."

The deep ball to Moore was the second time in the game he had the chance for a TD pass to his favorite target but he overthrew the first one.

"Whenever you miss a throw at the beginning of the game and get an opportunity later in the game to come back and hit it for a touchdown or a big play, it feels good. But of course, me, I wanted to hit the first one, too," Fields said. "But can't get them all and it definitely felt good. O-line protected well pretty much all game and he ran a great route and touchdown. Great execution by everybody."

Last week Fields posted a passer rating of 119.1 under pressure, completing 7-of-11 for 89 yards a TD, according to PFF.

Where this is all leading is the Bears can best maximize this talent Fields has by doing one thing, provided trading him isn't the course they've already decided to take.

They can draft Marvin Harrison Jr. first with the pick they have from Carolina. It gives them the complementary deep threat to DJ Moore.

While Moore can go deep, like he showed Sunday, the real strength he has shown this year is yards after the catch. He is currently fourth in the NFL in yards after the catch at 368 after pulling ahead of CeeDee Lamb last week, and is 19 yards behind Ja'Marr Chase.

At 6-foot-4, with a long reach and the ability shown earlier this season to hit 22.2 mph when running, Harrison made the annual Bruce Feldman "Freaks List" at No.2.

"At 6-4, 208, the son of a Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver is remarkably gifted," Feldman wrote. "He has everything. He's very strong—he bench presses 380 pounds and did 20 reps of 225 on the bench and squatted 500. He's very explosive, having broad-jumped 10 feet 8, and he's really sudden, having clocked a 3.94 in the shuttle and improved on his max velocity from last year, up to 23.5 MPH. Asked for what training result he’s most proud of, he says it's his 5-10-5, given his height and weight, yet still can run a sub-4-second time."

Harrison is also versatile as the Buckeyes have used him repeatedly in the "big slot" position this year after he'd been outside most of the time in the past.

Put Harrison in as deep threat, Moore has room to run all over the field or go deep and the field is wide open for other targets like Cole Kmet or Tyler Scott, maybe Darnell Mooney, another receiver or backs.

The Bears have to be regarded favorites to be able to select Harrison No. 1. Owning Carolina's pick, there is no guarantee the Bears can get the top pick, though. 

The Panthers have only the 27th toughest schedule remaining while the Cardinals have the seventh toughest. But the tougher Cardinals schedule this year overall works against them if they only finish tied with the Panthers for worst record. The team with the easier schedule in the case of tie gets the better draft position and the Cardinals' opponents to date have a .551 winning percentage while the Panthers' opponents are .511. Much can still change in this regard, though, and can do it on a weakly basis.

With Fields at quarterback, Harrison is the pick that makes the most sense for the Bears if they get that opportunity,  provided he's the player they decide they want throwing those deep passes.

Considering deep passing numbers Fields is putting up, with inconsistent blocking behind a changing offensive line at times this year, deciding otherwise could be inviting even more trouble than the Bears have been in during the past two years.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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