IS JUSTIN HIM

 Justin Fields is the Chicago Bears QB. Having finished his second NFL season and with the draft coming up, I wanted to tackle the question on everyone from Chicago and around the USA. Is Justin HIM?

The Chicago Bears have had their ups and downs with QBs for the last century but we have never truly had THE guy. We have had some bright moments here and there but considering Jay Cutler as our all-time leading passer well, that should tell you just how bad it has been.

Before we can look at the future of Chicago sports, we must first look back. We need to see what Justin Fields needs to live up to. Let's take a look at former Bears QBs.

FORMER BEARS QBS

JAY CUTLER.

Let's start off with Mr. No Emotion himself Jay Cutler. Jay was a notably good QB with a strong arm and good legs when needed. The thing is, he didn't show a will to win in my opinion. He was missing just that little gusto the greats have. On the other hand, he did lead the Bear's offense for 8 years and put up a lot of yards. Let's take a look at his stats.

Jay's All-Time Bears Stats

Passing Yards

23,443

TD's

154

INT's

109

PB 0

SB 0

W-L

51-51

Jay's All-Time Stats

Passing Yards

35,133

TD's

227

INT's

160

PB 1

SB 0

W-L

74-79

As you can see, Jay was great but his 51-51 record shows us that his time in Chicago was Mid. He never really lived up to our hopes for him, only leading us to 1 playoff appearance in his 8 years. Many injuries and bad leadership plagued his time in Chicago.

Jay was not HIM.

Jim McMahon.

Mcmahon was the only QB to lead Chicago to a Super Bowl. However, he was helped by one of, if not the greatest defenses of all time and in my opinion the greatest RB of all time, Walter Payton. Mcmahon, never fully being healthy, lead to only 7 years with CHI. After that, he was a journeyman having a 15-year career.

McMahon All-Time Bears Stats

Passing Yards-Rushing Yards

11,203 1,284

TD's Rushing TD's

67 15

INT's

56

PB

1

SB

1

W-L

46-15

Mcmahon All-Time Stats

Passing-Rushing Yards

18,148 1,631

Passing-Rushing TD's

100 16

INT

90

PB

1

SB

1 as stater 1 as a backup

W-L

67-30

As you can see, McMahon was a great Journeyman and a Bears legend. Especially for what he did for the Bears in that Super Bowl season. However, he just was never the reason we won a game.

Jim McMahon was not HIM.

Rex Grossman.

Rex Grossman, also known as sexy Rex was taken in the first round of the 2003 draft. The hope was that the QB from Florida, with a rocket for an arm, could turn our blues away. While he could throw like no other his decision-making was not the best. While he was able to lead the Bears to a super bowl, just like Jim, he had a defense that was at the top of the league. In the end, he had 6 years in CHI, and only once he played all 16 games.

Rex All-Time Bears Stats

Passing Yards

6,164

Passing TD's

33

INT

35

PB

0

SB

0-1

W-L

19-12

Rex All-Time Stats

Passing Yards

10,232

Passing TD's

56

INT

60

PB

0

SB

0-1

W-L

25-22

As you can see Rex, like so many others, was a promising young NFL QB. In the end, he was just a story of what could have been. He was amazing and horrible all at the same time. He could just never find his way in the league.

Rex was not HIM.

Mitch Trubisky

This one hurts me a lot. To this day, I still do not see what the bears saw in him. To trade up to get him second overall in the same draft as Mahomes and Watson, I will never understand. What time tells us and what it has told CHI was this was a mistake. Now, Trubisky was not a bad QB for the Bears. He was just taken so high and that gave us high expectations of him. The early success of Mahomes and Watson made Trubisky look like a bust. When really he just should not have been taken till late in the first round.

Trubisky All-Time Bears Stats

Passing Yards/Rushing Yards

10,609. 1,057.

Passing/Rushing TD's

64. 8.

INT's

37

PB

1

SB

0

W-L

29-21

Trubisky All-Time Stats - So Far

Passing/Rushing Yards

11,904. 1,119.

Passing/Rushing TD's

68. 11.

INT's

43

PB

1

SB

0

W-L

31-24

Trubisky was only in CHI for four years and made the playoffs twice. While he was a good player, he never had a consent coach or team. Still, I can without a doubt say

Trubisky was not HIM.

As you can see, CHI has had many ups and downs. While we hit on a few today there is definitely more that we will dive into another day.

Let's jump to our next topic for a minute. Don't worry we will come back to the HIM argument.

Legends of The Game In Their First Two Years.

Tom Brady

Making it to ten Super Bowls and winning seven Tom Brady is the GOAT! Having almost every passing record, Tom is one of the best, but how did he look In his first two seasons? Let's look together.

Tom's 2000 Season

Yards

6 (yes only 6)

TD's

0

INT's

0

PB

0

SB

0

W-L

0-0

Tom's 2001 Season

Yards

2,843

TDs

18

INT

12

PB

1

SB

1

W-L

11-3

As many of us know, Brady took over in 2001 for the hurt Bledsoe. He ended up winning the Super Bowl. From the sixth round to the Super Bowl, what a great story. Still, his stats did not look like a future hall of fame or GOAT but with hard work and time, Brady became the best.

Peyton Manning

Manning, known as the Sheriff, two-time Super Bowl winning, and the best mind we have ever seen on the field. Others who have played with him have said it was like having a coach on the field with them. He is top five in almost all passing stats and is a hall of fame.

Manning 1998 Season

Yards

3,739

TDs

26

INT

28 - that's a record

PB

0

SB

0

W-L

3-13

Manning's 1999 Season

Yard's

4,135

TDs

26

INT

15

PB

1

SB

0

W-L

13-3

Manning was definitely different than Brady. Manning was supposed to be THE guy from day one. While he ended up as THE guy, he had some downs along the way. Still, 28 is the record for INT in a player's first year. Thankfully he turned it around and never looked back.

Michael Vick

Michael Vick was more of a rushing QB like Justin and I felt like he needed to be added. Michael was the best runner when it came to QBs we have seen. He did have some lows, like the whole going to jail, however, he made a comeback with the Eagles. Vick went down as one of the best to ever do it.

Vick's 2001 Season

Passing-Rushing Yards

785. 289.

Passing-Rushing TDs

2. 1.

INT

3

PB

0

SB

0

W-L

1-1

Vick's 2002 Season

Passing-Rushing Yards

2,936. 777.

Passing-Rushing TDs

16. 8.

INT

8

PB

1

SB

0

W-L

8-6-1

Vick was a great rushing QB and he knew how to win. The man was a walking highlight reel, the best rusher to ever play QB.

Cam Newton

Also known as Super Cam, Newton took the league by storm. Compared to other QBs, Cam's first few seasons were way better than most. Cam is the all-time touchdown leader for rushing touchdowns by a QB. Super Cam lost his wings after a while showing us that even superman can only last so long in the NFL.

Newton's 2011 Season

Passing-Rushing Yards

4,051 706.

Passing-Rushing TDs

21 14.

INT

17

PB

1

SB

0

W-L

6-10

Newton's 2012 Season

Yards Passing-Rushing

3,869. 741

Passing-Rushing TDs

19. 8.

INT

12

PB

0

SB

0

W-L

7-9

Cam was one of the best starting off. We have seen his first two seasons look way better the most. He will go down as one of the best red-zone threats of all time.

Now back to Justin

In his first two years, his stats are as follows.

Passing-Rushing Yards

4,112. 1,563.

TDs Passing Rushing

24. 10.

INT

21

PB

0

SB

0

W-L

5-20

Let's be honest those are not the best stats we have ever seen. Fields has struggled a bit, however, his first year was with Matt Nagy, who was halfway out the door. Then they hired a defensive head coach, Matt Eberflus.

Now, I don't want to just blame coaching. Fields does have real issues to work on however, we have seen worse starts turn into something great. Also, let's be honest here, this kid is fun to watch. He can run with anyone in the NFL and his arm is one of the best CHI has seen.

So is Justin HIM? Only time will tell for sure but I can say I have seen all of these QBs play. After seeing Justin in his first preseason game, I'll tell you I've never seen fans more excited for the Bears. He has our hearts, now let's see if he can show the rest of the world what we all know to be true. Justin Fields will be HIM!

Go Bears!

~Aaron Rice