NFL rookie QB rankings: Fields passes Trevor Lawrence originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Halfway through the season, Bears rookie Justin Fields has never looked better. He’s made incredible plays in back-to-back weeks as his arrow continues to trend upwards. But that hasn’t been the story for some of the other first-round rookie quarterbacks. Scroll on to see how Fields’ performance affected him in our rookie QB rankings at the season’s midpoint.
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Wilson continues to recover from a PCL injury. He’s going to miss at least one more week, but hopefully will get back on the field soon, because he was starting to play much better before he got hurt.
No. 4: Trey Lance (last week: 4)
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Lance was also derailed by an injury a few weeks ago, but heading into Week 9 he didn’t have an official injury designation. Regardless, he never saw the field when the 49ers played the Cardinals. After using Lance in some special packages earlier this season, it appears Kyle Shanahan is currently happy to let Lance learn on the sideline.
No. 3: Trevor Lawrence (last week: 2)
COMP-ATT, COMP%: 15-26, 57.7%YDS: 118TD: 0INT: 0
Lawrence and the Jaguars this year are reminiscent of Joe Burrow and the Bengals last year. That’s to say, Lawrence looks really good, but the pieces around him don’t seem quite ready to take the next step with him. Lawrence’s box scores would look much, much better, pretty much on a weekly basis, if his pass catchers didn’t drop so many passes. That was a problem that reared its head again against the Bills. Lawrence should have had at least one touchdown, and possibly two, but his receivers couldn’t hang on to the ball.
No. 2: Justin Fields (last week: 3)
COMP-ATT, COMP%: 17-29, 58.6%YDS: 291TD: 1INT: 1RUSH-YDS: 8-45
After struggling in the first half, Fields and the Bears offense came alive to nearly pull off an unbelievable upset in Pittsburgh. Fields showed great touch on deep balls, continued to impress with his accuracy throwing on the run and across his body, and also continued to act more decisively like we saw the week prior. His throw to Jimmy Graham up the seam had such a high degree of difficulty that Matt Nagy deemed it a top-three throw in the NFL this season. Fields brings so much upside when he’s playing at this level. If he keeps it up he will be the top rookie QB in his class by year’s end. Question is, will he continue to trend upwards, or will there be some more clunkers ahead too?
No. 1: Mac Jones (last week: 1)
COMP-ATT, COMP%: 12-18, 66.7%YDS: 139TD: 1INT: 1
While Fields is a flashy, high-octane QB whose ceiling seems limitless right now, Jones feels like a reliable, polished starter already. That’s not to say Jones is simply a game manager, because he’s not. He’s made plays all season, and this week threw an absolute dart to Hunter Henry for a touchdown that gave the Patriots the momentum they needed to get past the Panthers. Jones’ box score isn’t eye-popping, largely because New England leaned on their effective three-headed rushing attack. But he also seemed out of sync with his pass catchers on deep balls. The biggest gripe one may have with Jones is that he’s been inconsistent with explosive plays, but he’s remained the most consistent, NFL-ready QB throughout the year.
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