Justin Fields has gone from fantasy football afterthought to fantasy hero, and it happened almost overnight.
After a poor rookie year and an offseason where the Chicago Bears did little to bring their young quarterback some help, Fields had an average draft position of just 146.5, according to FantasyPros. That put him somewhere around the 19th quarterback off most boards, amounting to basically a deep bench stash in leagues that actually drafted him.
And after Fields failed to crack 15 fantasy points through the first four weeks of the season, even the managers who drafted him had to be considering a release.
Today, the managers who didn’t act on that impulse — or the ones who benefitted on waivers — are being rewarded handsomely.
Six weeks later, and Fields has been the fourth-best quarterback in fantasy football. He’s been a top-five quarterback each of the last four weeks. In the last two weeks, no player has been better.
His Bears might not be making the playoffs this year, but Fields is kingmaking in fantasy football.
After today, Justin Fields is fantasy QB1 since Week 6 in both total scoring and weekly average pic.twitter.com/nAey5sHGwh
— FantasyPros (@FantasyPros) November 13, 2022
Most total fantasy points scored across all positions over the last 4 weeks:
1. Justin Fields: 131.5
2. Tua Tagovailoa: 92.654. Davis Mills: 53.7
So, the gap between Fields and the 2nd highest-scorer is the same as the 2nd and 54th highest-scoring player (38.9 points).
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) November 15, 2022
Justin Fields managers are on top of the world 🙌 pic.twitter.com/wM8aqts4sJ
— ESPN Fantasy Sports (@ESPNFantasy) November 15, 2022
Justin Fields QBs the fantasy team of the week for a 2nd straight week 🚀 pic.twitter.com/20NO8yRPsv
— PFF Fantasy Football (@PFF_Fantasy) November 14, 2022
The trend actually started in Week 5, when Fields scored a modest but season-high 17 fantasy points against the Vikings. It was the first real sign of life from a Bears offense people had little hope for.
He proceeded to increase that total each of the next four weeks, peaking at a whopping 42 fantasy points against the Dolphins in Week 9. And on Sunday, he followed that performance with a second-straight game of at least 100 passing yards, 100 rushing yards and four combined touchdowns.
Now, Fields is a must-play the rest of the season. And he’ll probably end up winning a few leagues for people. He’s the best player in fantasy football.
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