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Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields. Daniel Bartel-USA TODAY Sports

New teammate says he sees a bit of Jalen Hurts in Justin Fields

By Michael Gallagher | Last updated 6/19/23

The Chicago Bears thought highly enough of quarterback Justin Fields to trade the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft and pass on the opportunity to draft Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud.

Chicago is banking on Fields developing into a star, much like Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who made an All-Pro-caliber jump from Year 2 to 3. And new Bears teammate T.J. Edwards, who played with Hurts the last three seasons, says he already sees some similarities between the two QBs.

"One thing with Jalen was he was always just kind of calm and collected," Edwards recently said during an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio. "That's why we looked to him so much, just because he was always that calming factor. You do see similarities with Fields. He doesn't seem to get rattled out there in terms of when we're mixing up looks on him and stuff like that. Dude's got such a strong arm, and he's been very accurate just about this entire OTAs and minicamp. So, I'm really excited to play with a guy like that, a guy who can make all the plays who can also lead this team. He's definitely the guy.”

Justin Fields is getting high praise from his teammates pic.twitter.com/B4rLmjTWhc
— PFF (@PFF) June 18, 2023

It's easy to connect the dots between Hurts and Fields. Both are dual-threat signal callers with strong arms and game-changing playmaking ability. Hurts averaged 36 yards per game more than Fields in his first full year as a starter, and both had similar completion percentages (Hurts 61.3, Fields 60.4) and total touchdowns (Hurts 26, Fields 25).

In his second year as Philly’s starting QB, Hurts set career highs last season in passing yards (3,701), passing touchdowns (22), completion percentage (66.5), passer rating (101.5) and rushing touchdowns (13). He finished second in MVP voting behind Patrick Mahomes, made his first Pro Bowl and was named a Second Team All-Pro.

While MVP runner-up and All-Pro status may be lofty expectations for Fields, it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility.

General manager Ryan Poles surrounded Fields with a better supporting cast through free agency and the draft. He bolstered the running back depth behind Khalil Herbert with D’Onta Foreman, Travis Homer and Roschon Johnson, he gave Fields four legit weapons at WR after adding D.J. Moore and Tyler Scott behind Darnell Mooney and Chase Claypool and he added tight end Robert Tonyan to pair with Cole Kmet.

Poles also upgraded Fields’ protection with the addition of free-agent guard Nate Davis and first-round tackle Darnell Wright.

If he can stay healthy, the pieces are there for Fields to make a Hurts-like leap in 2023.

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