Bears 2022 Rewind: Inside the numbers for Justin Fields, Chase Claypool, Cole Kmet (2024)

What a strange season for the Bears offense.

The quarterback, Justin Fields, wowed the league with his legs. The team set a franchise record with 3,014 rushing yards, the sixth most in the NFL since at least 1940 and the most in the league this season.

But they ranked 32nd in passing and it wasn’t close. They had the worst interception rate in football. They gave up a sack on 13.3 percent of dropbacks, the highest rate in the NFL since the 2002 Texans.

The overall result: 19.2 points per game. They failed to score more than 20 in the final six games, part of a 10-game losing streak in a 3-14 season.

Every Monday morning, the “Bears Rewind,” took you inside the box score. This edition analyzes the stats from the entire 2022 season on the offensive side of the ball, position by position.

All statistics per TruMedia or Pro Football Reference unless stated otherwise.

Quarterback

Each week, “Bears Rewind” had a category for Fields and how he stacked up against himself and the rest of the league.

How did he improve from his rookie season?

In just about every passing category, Fields showed growth. Unfortunately, interception percentage and sack percentage were exceptions. Both of those stats have a lot of other things that go into them — especially sack percentage. Fields can still get rid of the ball quicker and make better reads. It’s part of where the Bears want to see him ascend as a passer.

Fields did a better job doing the simple task of getting the Bears points. His touchdown percentage reflects that, and he was in the middle of the league in passing touchdowns, even though he was best known for his running.

These rankings are a bit of a reality check when it comes to where Fields can still get to as a passer, and the Bears are banking on a better offensive line, a better receiving corps and a better Fields leading to better standings in 2023.

For those who want to use Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts as a comparison, he was 22nd in passer rating and 26th in completion percentage in 2021. Another year in the offense and with A.J. Brown at wide receiver, he jumped to 11th in accuracy and fourth in passer rating.

The best statistical picture of optimism is isolating Fields’ stats from after the mini-bye until he got hurt in the Falcons game — Weeks 7-11. Here’s how he fared in that five-week stretch.

When the Bears scored 29.6 points per game, Fields was at best a top-10 quarterback — which would be tremendous for the franchise across an entire season with better pieces around him.

Running back

Fields led the Bears with 1,143 rushing yards, followed by David Montgomery (801) and Khalil Herbert (731). It was Herbert, though, who made the most of his touches, averaging 5.7 yards per carry. Of the 113 Bears running backs to have at least 100 carries in a season, Herbert’s rushing average ranks second behind only Gale Sayers (6.2 yards per carry in 1968). Montgomery rushed at a 4.0-yard average.

The backs, both adept at pass catching, weren’t used in that facet of the game nearly enough. Montgomery had 34 catches and Herbert had only nine. Rookie Trestan Ebner, whose receiving ability was his calling card, never made an impact on offense. He had two receptions for 8 yards.

Early in the season, the question was, who’s the running back of the future? Herbert’s explosiveness showed his fit in the scheme, but Montgomery still maintained his role as the lead back. Here’s how they compared in playing time.

That’s worth considering if the Bears don’t re-sign Montgomery. They might need to bring in another back to complement Herbert, especially if Ebner doesn’t take big strides this offseason. Take out the games Herbert missed while on injured reserve, and he played only 37.8 percent of the snaps.

On Bears RB David Montgomery and his uncertain future https://t.co/LXg9xwLBUS

— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) January 9, 2023

The first year the Bears employed a fullback since Michael Burton saw Khari Blasingame on the field for nearly 17 percent of the snaps. In some of the Bears’ better games, he was a big part of the run game.

Wide receiver

For the first time since 1989, the Bears didn’t have a wide receiver with at least 500 receiving yards. That season, Ron Morris led the team with 486 yards receiving.

Darnell Mooney certainly would have gone over 500 yards had he not gotten injured. He led the group with 493.

It also says a lot about the drop-off from Mooney to the rest of the group. He missed the final five games and still led the receivers in playing time. After a slow start, along with the rest of the passing game, Mooney got going with a 56-yard catch against the Giants in Week 4. Here’s how he ranked in the league from Weeks 4-11.

Mooney certainly had higher expectations for himself, but this is also an example of how hard it was for anyone in the passing game to produce. General manager Ryan Poles had high praise for Mooney on Tuesday as the receiver works his way back from an ankle injury.

Let’s take a look at Chase Claypool’s playing time as a Bear — he played in 48.1 percent of snaps when active — you’d expect more considering what the team gave up for him and what they needed at that position.

Poles is confident that Claypool’s injury, Fields’ injury and the rush to get Claypool up to speed on the playbook all factored in. Again, this is where the 32nd-ranked passing offense comes into play. But right now, the Bears would probably rather have the No. 32 pick than Claypool based on the early returns.

Equanimeous St. Brown earned a one-year contract extension. Ideally, he’ll be more of a No. 4 receiver next season, but he’s a valuable blocker and has a good grasp of the offense.

Dante Pettis led the team in drops, per Pro Football Focus, but as someone signed late in the spring, he turned out to be a fine addition. He made an impact as a punt returner and did have three receiving touchdowns.

The mystery here is rookie Velus Jones Jr. Well, maybe it’s not a mystery. The coaches didn’t trust him, hence the low snap total. He ran only 70 routes, which ranked 10th on the team. His 122 receiving yards ranked 122nd among rookie wide receivers taken in Rounds 1-3 over the past decade. He did make the most of his touches in the final few games, which is why it’s strange he didn’t get more opportunities on offense. We’ll find out next season if he’s predominantly a gadget player for that side of the ball, or if he can be a consistent deep-ball receiver.

A summer injury seemed to be a real setback for Byron Pringle, once thought to be the No. 2 receiver behind Mooney considering his career in Kansas City. Pringle did have a 35-yard touchdown catch and proved important as a downfield run blocker, but he never emerged as a consistent pass-catching threat.

It doesn’t appear that N’Keal Harry showed enough to warrant a return. I’d be curious how he fares with a fully healthy spring and summer, but he barely played down the stretch.

Tight ends

Cole Kmet was the most consistent player on the 2022 Bears offense. He didn’t miss a game — in fact, he’s played in all 50 in his career. He led the skill players in snaps by a wide margin. He was first on the team in receptions (50), receiving yards (544) and receiving touchdowns (seven).

From last season, Kmet improved in yards per catch (10.2 to 10.9), yards after catch per reception (4.10 to 5.72) and receiving percentage (64.5 to 72.5). He also had five drops in 2021 per Pro Football Focus and only two this season.

He was integral to the run blocking, hence the high mark in playing time. Put all that together and you’ve got someone who got the most praise from Poles in Tuesday’s news conference.

Sunday read: Go inside Bears TE Cole Kmet's touchdowns (and his favorite run block) with this film review https://t.co/RoMA74Wk8k

— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) January 8, 2023

How important is the No. 2 tight end position in this offense? Based on Year 1 with coordinator Luke Getsy, not very much. Tight ends not named Kmet combined for six receptions for 52 yards. Trevon Wesco, claimed off waivers from the Jets, became the No. 2, blocking tight end. When he got hurt late in the season, Ryan Griffin handled it. Undrafted rookie Jake Tonges got some reps early in the season and Chase Allen was active for a game late.

Offensive line

In 17 games, the Bears had nine starting offensive line combinations. Braxton Jones and Sam Mustipher were the only linemen who played every game.

Jones was the only Bear to play every snap all season — linebacker Nicholas Morrow missed only one. Poles lauded Jones’ mental makeup and how he handled his rookie season. It was a tall task for a rookie from Southern Utah to start all 17 games in the NFL. He had his moments, like the Week 17 game in Detroit, but also had games where he wasn’t noticed — an offensive lineman’s dream.

Mustipher went from a position switch to right guard (one he didn’t seem thrilled about when we talked to him over the summer) to winning back the center job after Lucas Patrick’s training camp injury. Mustipher was open about his struggles against Dexter Lawrence of the Giants, but he did improve as the season went along. The team loves Mustipher for the intangibles. As an undrafted player, it’s pretty remarkable he’s started 40 games, but he’s probably at best a backup next season.

Teven Jenkins’ move to guard was one of the best stories midseason, but injuries became an issue for him again. Now that he’ll have a full offseason to focus on guard, that should only help him heading into the summer, but he’s got to stay healthy.

“I would not say it was probably my last stand here. But I would say, it was probably my best chance of being on the field. So that sparked something inside.”

The inside story of Teven Jenkins’ move to right guard for the Bears

My story via @TheAthletic https://t.co/PVTLDppf00

— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) December 7, 2022

One of the top offseason questions will be Cody Whitehair’s future. His respect in the building is unquestioned, but he’s also battled injuries, turns 31 in July and carries a $14.1 million cap hit in 2023.

Larry Borom showed his versatility. Maybe he could stick as a backup next season. The Bears were very excited about Patrick, but injuries got in the way of him ever becoming the starting center. He’ll likely have the first crack next season, but it shouldn’t necessarily be guaranteed.

Dieter Eiselen had some nice moments filling in against the Bills. He has spent his time in Chicago predominantly working at center but had to play guard in Weeks 16 and 17. Veteran Michael Schofield suffered a knee injury in Week 17 after proving to be an important fill-in for a line full of injuries.

Did the Bears see enough from Alex Leatherwood to know that it’s not going to work, or would they like to see him during a full offseason? He rarely got a chance, which means he wasn’t doing enough in practice to earn the reps. Draft pick Ja’Tyre Carter only played in the season finale, while Doug Kramer spent the season on injured reserve.

Jones, Jenkins and Patrick could all be starting next season, but in a tradition like any other in Chicago, we’ll be talking a lot of offensive line in the coming months.

(Photo of David Montgomery and Justin Fields: Nic Antaya / Getty Images)

Kevin Fishbain is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Chicago Bears. He spent the 2013-16 seasons on the Bears beat for Shaw Media publications, including the Northwest Herald, Daily Chronicle and Joliet Herald-News. Previously, he covered the NFL from 2010 to 2012 for Pro Football Weekly. Follow Kevin on Twitter @kfishbain