Deservedly so, Justin Fields is getting another chance to be an NFL starting quarterback in 2025. Throughout his career, Fields has always been productive when starting. Is the New York Jets’ new quarterback a premier late-round QB target for fantasy football managers this season?
Justin Fields Fantasy Outlook
Fields gets a bad rap. No one is mistaking Fields with an elite quarterback or someone who can carry a team to a Super Bowl. However, Fields is definitely one of the 32 best quarterbacks walking the planet and deserves to be a starter.
Last season, Fields had to settle for a backup role in Pittsburgh, but found himself with the opportunity to start due to Russell Wilson’s training camp calf strain.
Fields wound up starting six games, going 4-2 in that span. Yet, he was benched following a win.
The merits of Fields’ benching aren’t really relevant to us, though. What we care about is how Fields performed when he was starting.
In his six games as a starter, Fields was his usual QB1 self. He averaged 18.9Â fantasy points per game, which extrapolates to the overall QB8 over the entire 2024 season.
In his career, Fields has always been a fantasy QB1 when starting. In total, he’s made 44 career starts between Chicago and Pittsburgh, averaging 17.2 points per game. However, even that doesn’t paint the proper picture.
Fields was deployed with kid gloves for the first half of his rookie season. He didn’t start really utilizing his mobility until Week 8. So, if we remove Weeks 1-7 of his rookie year, Fields has averaged 18.5 PPG as a starter.
Averaging 54.9 rushing yards per game as a starter, Fields comes with an incredibly high floor. With those numbers, Fields simply needs about 100 yards passing and a touchdown to get near 15 fantasy points. Any week in which he scores twice, he’s probably pushing 20.
Since entering the league, only six quarterbacks have had a game in which they reached 40 fantasy points. Fields is one of them.
If anyone says Justin Fields can’t pass from the pocket, show them this video: pic.twitter.com/yPafKdKHOu
— Justin Fields Fan Club (@JustinFieldsFC) June 19, 2025
Fields’ ADP opened in the dirt, but has since ticked all the way up to QB11. I have Fields ranked as my QB10. I’m taking him ahead of guys like Brock Purdy, Jared Goff, and Dak Prescott.
The primary concern with Fields is job security. We know he’ll produce in the starting role, but he hasn’t been good enough to keep a job throughout his career.
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On the Jets, it’s really hard to envision a scenario in which he doesn’t start all 17 games outside of injury. The Jets’ backup quarterback is 36-year-old Tyrod Taylor. What incentive would the Jets have to turn to Taylor, even if they are losing games? And I don’t think they will lose games, at least not at the rate necessary to spark talks of benching Fields.
The Jets rank 15th in PFSN’s Defense+ metric. Fields will have Garrett Wilson as his top target offensively. This is not a team likely to be terrible. Even a 7-8 win team should be enough to keep Fields under center the entire season. If you wait on QB, Fields should be at the top of your list of late-round QBs to draft.
Frank Ammirante’s Justin Fields Fantasy Projection
When Justin Fields has job security, he’s a major fantasy asset because of his elite rushing ability. That’s exactly what the former Bears’ first-round pick will have now that he’s with the Jets.
New York is in Year 1 with Aaron Glenn as head coach. There are virtually no expectations on this team this season, as it’s viewed as a rebuilding year. With that in mind, it’s hard to envision a scenario where Fields gets benched for a veteran like Tyrod Taylor, even if he’s struggling.
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It’s in the Jets’ best interest to see what they have in Fields before re-assessing their plans at the position after the year. If he can start all year long, it’s tough to see how he doesn’t finish as a top-12 fantasy quarterback, with upside for more. This is one of the few QBs with the ability to rush for 1,000-plus yards.
Given the Jets’ limited group of weapons in the passing game aside from WR Garrett Wilson, it’s likely that they’ll allow Fields to run wild. That bodes well for his fantasy outlook in 2025.
