NEWSLETTER
Of all the unlikely allegiances I’d even dream up in my brain, I didn’t see a Bears-Cowboys connection coming through.
But just like you can’t predict football, you also can’t necessarily forecast which players will have each other’s back.
So I found it refreshing (and intriguing) when I saw Dallas Cowboys star defender Micah Parsons go to bat for Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields on Twitter. It all began with fantasy football analyst Mason Dodd essentially throwing cold water on the idea of DJ Moore being for Fields what AJ Brown was to Jalen Hurts or Stefon Diggs was to Josh Allen. And that take wasn’t something Parsons was vibing with:
Sure, Fields and Moore have work to do in order to reach what the Allen-Diggs and Hurts-Brown tandems have done. But (1) there is a blueprint for the Fields-Moore connection to learn from and (2) I can’t bring myself to doubt Fields (or Moore) until he gives me a reason to do so.
Fields made the climb to overtake Andy Dalton as a rookie when the original plan was to use his first year as a redshirt season. One year later, Fields overcame a slow start to make in-season improvements and lead the Bears offense on a point-scoring run that was unlike anything we’d ever seen. He even received an MVP vote. And now, Fields’ offensive coordinator says his QB is “light-years” ahead of where he was at this time last year. In other words, we have plenty of reasons to give Fields and Moore enough runway to see if this thing takes off. To assume they won’t is short-sighted and potentially foolish.
And let’s not forget about Moore in this conversation. Moore eclipsed 1,100 receiving yards in 2019, 2020, and 2021 while in Carolina. Plus, he put up huge numbers while catching passes from Teddy Bridgewater, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield, PJ Walker, Kyle Allen, and a past-his-prime Cam Newton. I’ll admit to being an optimist, but Moore’s track record gives me a reason to feel good about what he could do with Fields. It isn’t a stretch to imagine Moore bringing out the best in Fields. Just look what Moore did for that collection of names above.
Circling back to the Fields-Parson dynamic, I can’t shake the fact that these two aren’t even teammates. So to see Parsons stick up for Chicago’s QB1 is pretty eye-opening. But more than that, it is telling. Fields might be getting criticism from all corners of the football content creation community. However, getting backup from a two-time All-Pro, two-time Pro Bowler, 2021 AP Rookie of the Year, and arguably one of the game’s most elite defenders says more than any fantasy football pundit could.
