Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields wasn’t sacked on Thursday night, but he was under constant pressure.
Fields was pressured on four of his eight dropbacks against the Seattle Seahawks. That’s concerning when you consider how poorly Chicago’s offensive line played in 2021.
Last season, Fields was second in the NFL in pressure percentage. He was also fourth in quarterback hits per game.
During Friday’s edition of Get Up, ESPN’s Mike Tannenbaum revealed that he’s afraid the Bears will turn Fields into former No. 1 pick David Carr.
“I think it’s reckless what they’re doing,” Tannenbaum said. “I would’ve taken Chris Morgan, their offensive line coach, and head coach Matt Eberflus and said, ‘We are drafting offensive linemen for at least this draft and maybe in 2023.’ They drafted offensive linemen in the fifth, sixth and seventh-rounds. That’s not good enough.”
Tannenbaum continued: “Justin Fields is a great talent – not a good talent, a great talent. But he may turn into David Carr. He has no chance to get through 17 games.”
The Houston Texans failed to put a serviceable offensive line around Carr. That obviously affected his development.
In 2002, Carr was sacked a whopping 76 times. Three years later, he was sacked 68 times.
There’s still time for the Bears to protect Fields. However, the early returns aren’t promising.