Justin Fields is officially doubtful for tomorrow night's game against Carolina, so Tyson Bagent will make his fourth straight start. Bagent hasn't set the world afire, but I have thought he has played pretty well (if you can look past all the interceptions, anyway).
It's hard, of course, to look past the interceptions; throwing 6 in 3.5 games is not a recipe for a lengthy career. But Bagent has done some good things as a passer, enough that it's at least fair to wonder if the Division II Shepherd product can be a regular starter somewhere in the NFL. Perhaps even in Chicago.
Fields is in the midst of his third season, and in general the results haven't been pretty. The fact that his won-loss record is 6-25 isn't all on him, but clearly he's struggled, particularly in terms of things like passing accuracy and especially taking sacks. Areas where, coincidentally, Bagent has been better.
Looking just at this season -- Year 3 for Fields, Year 1 for Bagent -- the two have both been bad in terms of throwing interceptions. Each has thrown 6, and while Bagent's have come in 3.5 games and Fields' in 5.5, it's not good either way.
But Fields has been a lot worse in terms of taking sacks, and a lot worse in terms of accuracy. He's taking over 4 sacks per game (24 total), Bagent has taken just 5.
Looking at the game logs side by side, Bagent has also been a more consistent passer. Three of the four best in terms of completion percentage were the rookie's; the four worst were Fields'. Fields had the best game, passing for 335 yards and 4 TDs against Denver, and also lit up Washington. But Bagent completed over 70 percent in two of his outings, and has as many wins in his three starts as Fields in twice as many.
Table sorted by completion percentage.
| FIELDS VERSUS BAGENT (PASSING), 2023 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Opp | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Sk |
| Fields | Den. | 28 | 35 | 80.0 | 335 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Bagent | L.V. | 21 | 29 | 72.4 | 162 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Bagent | Min. | 10 | 14 | 71.4 | 83 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Bagent | at LAC | 25 | 37 | 67.6 | 232 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Fields | G.B. | 24 | 37 | 64.9 | 216 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Bagent | at N.O. | 18 | 30 | 60.0 | 220 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Fields | Min. | 6 | 10 | 60.0 | 58 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Fields | at T.B. | 16 | 29 | 55.2 | 211 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Fields | at Was. | 15 | 29 | 51.7 | 282 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Fields | at K.C. | 11 | 22 | 50.0 | 99 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
This is a casual exercise, really. Fields is the talented first-round pick, and he'll be starting again as soon as he's healthy. What Bagent does against Carolina tomorrow night can help or hurt him a little, but there's no quarterback controversy.
But Chicago will eventually fire everyone in the front office and on the sidelines and bring in a new group of decision-makers. There won't necessarily be any loyalty to Fields. A couple of years from now, I don't know if either of these guys will be NFL staters. But I think there's been enough good out of Bagent as a passer to think he'll get a look from teams down the road, if not the Bears then someone else.
--Andy Richardson