The complicated journey of Justin Fields, and why the Steelers could have their franchise QB

What the Steelers have in Justin Fields, and where the Bears failed him

The Pittsburgh Steelers could be the perfect situation for Justin Fields. When Fields came out in the 2020 NFL Draft, his draft prospect profile included some tidbits pointing to a need for him to sit and learn. The Chicago Bears didn’t give him that opportunity though, and played him almost immediately. What did he show in college as a starting quarterback? Can the Steelers get more out of him than the Bears did? And will he exceed that level?

Fields as a starting College Quarterback

Fields didn’t become a starting quarterback until the 2019 collegiate season after he transferred to Ohio State. That was his best statistical season as a college quarterback. He even finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting. Unfortunately, during his senior season, he suffered a broken finger that ended his senior season.

Fields put up good numbers in his collegiate career, but, out of three collegiate seasons he only had twenty-two games of starting experience before he was drafted in the 2021 NFL Draft. Fourteen of those starts came during his sophomore season in 2019. He came into the NFL as a high-upside but inexperienced quarterback.

The Bears failed to set him up for early career success as an NFL Quarterback

A reasonable bridge QB trade option was available, Teddy Bridgewater whom the Bears could have traded for and it would have given Fields more time to sit and watch. The Carolina Panthers were looking to dump Bridgewater. As part of the trade sending him to the Denver Broncos, they agreed to pay $7,000,000 of Bridgewater’s 2021 $10,000,000 salary.

If the Bears traded with the Panthers it would have been better from a cost perspective, as well as given Fields more time to learn. Which is what he needed.

Bears sign Andy Dalton

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Andy Dalton’s one-year contract for $10,000,000 could’ve gone up to $13,000,000 with incentives. Dalton predictably played his way to the bench. Other available free-agent bridge quarterback options, may have presented a better opportunity for Fields to sit longer.

Free agent quarterback Jacoby Brissett signed a one-year contract for $5,000,000 that could’ve gone up to $7,500,000 with incentives. Free agent quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick signed a one-year contract for $10,000,000 that could’ve gone up to $12,000,000 with incentives. Fitzpatrick suffered a season-ending injury in his first game.

The better plan should’ve been to insulate the team against having Fields having to play early on in his rookie season, by bringing in a higher-quality bridge quarterback option. Even with the benefit of hindsight, if the plan was for Dalton to play the bulk of the 2021 NFL season, that was a bad plan. Dalton and Fields are completely different styles of quarterbacks. Dalton is a more pocket passer style type, whereas Fields is a much more mobile style passer. Either Bridgewater or Brissett would have been far better mentors from their play styles than Dalton was.

Playcaller turnover

To begin the 2021 season Bears head coach Matt Nagy was the play-caller, Dalton was benched during the first game that season. Fields came in to relieve him, then after the team was embarrassed by the Cleveland Browns during week three that season, Nagy turned play-calling duties back over to Lazor. Nagy remained rather vague as to who was calling the plays throughout the remainder of the season.

Nagy was dismissed at the end of the season and the Bears hired now-head coach Matt Eberflus who brought in his offensive coordinator Luke Getsy. A new offensive coordinator will have their own scheme, play calling rhythm. Basically, everything Fields learned, he had to unlearn and then learn a completely new playbook. Matt Nagy deserved to be fired, an unfortunate side effect of that decision was setting a raw quarterback back a step.

The 2022 NFL Off-season

New Bears general manager Ryan Poles, surrounded Fields with arguably one of the worst receiver cores in the NFL at the time. The top three receivers combined for 1,061 yards and six touchdowns. The team passed on Steelers wide receiver George Pickens who statistically outperformed every one of the Bears receivers. He could have been just what the doctor ordered for Fields and the Bears offense.

Then eventually came the regrettable trade with the Steelers for receiver Chase Claypool. That could go down as one of the worst trades in recent memory. The Bears got virtually nothing in return, while the Steelers got everything. The Bears ended their relationship with Claypool in the same situation they began it in, nothing at receiver to support the quarterback.

Fields isn’t without his share of blame

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Too often Fields runs himself into trouble when he is under pressure or the pocket begins to collapse. There are far too many times that he attempts to escape the pocket and runs directly towards where the pressure is coming from. The result is he at times unnecessarily negates offensive plays. Not all sacks are the fault of the quarterback of course, but he has to change when the play is dead if possible throw the football away. You can’t have the starting quarterback routinely making poor decisions in clutch situations.

Turnovers

He turns the ball over a lot, too much for a conservative-minded team such as the Steelers. The funny thing about his fumbles though, only 26.66% of them occur when he’s throwing the football. The other 73.34% occurs when he’s pulling the ball down to run. If he has to step in as the starting quarterback for the Steelers whether that happens due to an injury to starting quarterback Russell Wilson, Wilson plays his way on the bench, or Fields beats him out for the starting job. Fields has to take care of the football, he does have elite athleticism and a very strong arm. But, that won’t matter to Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin if Fields is coughing up the football.

Accuracy

Fields misses easy reads at times, he will underthrow or overthrow wide-open receivers who have room to make a play with the football. No quarterback is perfect, but you have to make the easy layups, and he often misses them. He could stand to improve on his ball placement when throwing to his receivers.

The things Fields does you can’t teach

When he tucks the ball and takes off to run with the ball, there are very few defenders that are able to tackle him in a one-on-one situation. Fields just make defenders look silly in the open field. He’s a quarterback who has the speed in the open field to scramble for a 70-yard touchdown. If he wants to go deep down the field with a pass it’s seemingly effortless for him to hit those deep passes. The Steelers coaching staff will need to exercise patience with him, put him in positions to be successful. If they can do that, and limit his mistakes, they could potentially have a franchise quarterback on their hands.