Although the Jets are 0-1, Justin Fields surprised the entire NFL on Sunday with his performance against a solid Steelers defense. Pittsburgh was the 7th best scoring defense a season ago, so Fields balled out against a savvy unit under the guidance of Mike Tomlin.
If he’s still available in your fantasy league on the waiver wire, put those claims in ASAP! Fields dissected the Steelers all day on Sunday, and he would be 1-0 if his defense had helped him out at all as the Jets fell to Pittsburgh 34-32.
The expectations for Fields and this New York offense were bleak heading into the season, but the ceiling for this offense has increased significantly after what we saw on Sunday.
Fields put up 29.5 FPTS on Sunday, a top-five mark among quarterbacks thus far in Week 1. We still have MNF to play, but as of now, only Josh Allen (41.8 FPTS) and Justin Herbert (30.9 FPTS) have outscored Fields on DraftKings. He went 16/22 for 218 yards and a touchdown through the air while also adding 48 rushing yards and two more touchdowns on the ground. 266 yards of offense, three touchdowns and no turnovers. Not bad for a guy making his first start for a new team with a new offensive coordinator and head coach.
In many leagues, Fields will have been drafted and is not available to add on the waiver wire in Week 2. So is he worth a trade? Depending on what your quarterback situation is, Fields could very well prove to be a league winning acquisition. Yes, it’s only Week 1. But the fact remains, there are only a handful of NFL quarterbacks who can run the ball like Fields. Lamar Jackson, Jayden Daniels and Jalen Hurts are arguably the only other three in the same realm athletically. Fields will have to do more than run this season to be good, not only generally, but in fantasy football. He proved he can pass it with the best of them on Sunday, but was that just a Week 1 fluke, or has he turned a corner with his accuracy and pocket awareness?
Not only did he complete 72.7% of his passes in Week 1, but his QBR and passer rating both land inside the top 10 marks in the league. The question now becomes, can he keep it up? The Jets’ defense won’t be happy to see Buffalo up next on the schedule, but there could be points to be had against a Bills defense that won but gave up 40 on Sunday night against the Ravens.
If you can acquire Fields either on the waiver wire or through a low-cost trade, he has tons of upside in 2025 and could easily finish the season as a top 10 fantasy quarterback with the constant running threat that he provides. Get on the bandwagon before it’s too late.
