Dan Orlovsky makes extremely bold prediction for Justin Fields' 2023 season
Justin Fields has shown flashes of being a special talent over the course of his two seasons in the NFL. Now, heading into year three, Dan Orlovsky expects a massive leap and for those glimpses out of the Bear’s quarterback to become the norm.
Orlovsky joined ‘First Take’ on Monday morning and discussed Chicago’s quarterback. In doing so, he went as far to say that Fields will warrant MVP consideration through his individual play, especially considering what he was able to produce in his first year of starting a season ago with the offense that was around him.
“He’s going to play MVP-level football,” stated Orlovsky. “I have felt that since the DJ Moore trade happened.”
“I don’t think he’s going to be in the conversation because I still think the team will not be good enough. But my reasonings why? If we go back and watch Justin’s performances? 17 touchdowns last year throwing. He gets 1,000 yards rushing, 2,200 yards passing,” Orlovsky explained. “Before the season, I said that the worst place for anyone in the NFL to play quarterback was Chicago. It was a bottom-five skill group to support and it was a bottom-five offensive line. So Justin Fields played good in the worst situation possible.”
However, as we head into 2023, Chicago has made enough additions around Fields that he thinks that the 24-year-old will be in his best position yet as a pro.
“Fast forward to the offseason. Number one? The addition of DJ Moore. So everyone’s clear, DJ Moore, up until last season, had three straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons. Two years ago, he averaged 18 years per catch. So he gets a bonafide number one wide receiver,” said Orlovsky. “We’ve seen Stefon Diggs, AJ Brown, Tyreek Hill and what they do for (their new quarterbacks). That will immediately get his play up.”
“Number two? They draft Darnell Wright out of Tennessee and sign Nate Davis of the Tennessee Titans. The offensive line was bottom-five last year. I think it’s now got a chance to be in the top half in the NFL,” Orlovsky pointed out. “So, immediately, we’re better in the skill position group and we’re better on the offensive line.”
Finally, Orlovsky expects a jump from Fields considering he’s going into year two with OC Luke Getsy in his ear. Based on what his system, or similar systems, have done for quarterbacks in the past, he doesn’t see any reason why some Fields won’t be filling up box scores in every way when it comes to his statistics.
“The third aspect is this: Luke Getsy, who’s their play caller, runs the Kyle Shanahan, Mike Shanahan offense,” said Orlovsky. “We have watched that offense take good quarterbacks and get them to produce like really good quarterbacks. We’ve watched it for years.”
“This is his second year in this system,” Orlovsky continued. “On average, when a quarterback plays in this system going into their second year, it’s Kirk Cousins, it’s Baker Mayfield, it’s Jimmy Garoppolo, it’s Matt Ryan? The average statistic performance of those guys, and I would say Justin is a more talented player than them physically, is 4,100 yards and 32 touchdowns. That’s the average of year two in this system for guys like that.”
With his dual-threat ability, Fields proved to be one of the league’s best young quarterbacks last season. With the statistical pop that Orlovsky is expecting from him in year three, he believes that Chicago’s QB1 is just some wins on the record away from putting himself right in the mix as the NFL’s Most Valuable Player.
“It’s not fool-proof, it’s not 100%. But Justin Field and his physical talent in year two in this system and with the upgrade? I don’t think it’s unrealistic to sit there and say Justin Fields should account for 35-plus touchdowns and over 4,000 yards of offense,” said Orlovsky. “That is MVP-caliber football.”