Justin Fields is not a bust. In fact, he’s the opposite.
An edit I made of Justin Fields.
“When are we going to stop making excuses for Justin Fields?” is a question I’m sure many of you have heard from one ESPN talking head or another. The thing is, no one is making excuses. There’s a clear difference between excuses and explanations. Making excuses is the act of trying to blindly lessen the blame on a player; making explanations is the act of clarifying the reasoning behind a player’s success or shortcomings.
While there are some explanations needed for the lackluster numbers in certain aspects of his stat lines, there aren’t many required. A simple look at his numbers from this season on the front page of his ESPN profile have “bust” written all over them. His passing yards, completion percentage, passing touchdowns, and interception numbers are all within the twentieth to thirtieth range in the league through roughly half the season. It’s no secret that those are not the numbers a front office wants to see from a second year quarterback who they traded up in the first round for. However, to get the full story behind these stats it’s important to take a deep dive into his offense and overall situation.
Offensive Line Struggles
Ahead of week nine, Chicago’s offensive line is ranked 24th in Pro Football Focus’s (PFF) “Offensive Line Power Rankings,” four spots higher than their placement in the prior week's edition. While they are rated second in the league in run blocking, the pass blocking is a vastly different story. In terms of pass blocking, the Bears’ starting tackles are ranked 25th and 53rd and the starting guards are ranked 19th and 43rd by PFF. The poor offensive line play has culminated in Fields being sacked thirty-one times - the most of any quarterback this season. Fields has also been knocked down on pass attempts the 11th most of any quarterback, coming in at twenty-three times. Also, the Bears are 23rd in their offensive line payroll, a note-worthy 18.5 million dollars behind the Colts, the highest spending team in the league. The Chicago Bears simply have not put in the necessary resources into their offensive line to have any quarterback be successful, let alone a second year quarterback.
Lack of Wide Receiver Production
Unfortunately, there’s no way to say it kindly. The Bears’ receiver room is subpar. Darnell Mooney, the Bears highest producing receiver, is not even rated in the top fifty wide receivers by PFF. In addition to the low ranking, Mooney is only on pace for roughly fifty receptions and less than eight hundred yards. At this moment, Jaylen Waddle, the second highest producing receiver on the Miami Dolphins is only eight receptions and 50 yards short of passing Mooney’s full season projections. The uninspiring numbers from Fields’ receivers don’t just stem from Mooney, though. The Chicago receiving corps as a whole is responsible for ten drops, tying them for the ninth most in the NFL. However, the Bears’ front office did trade for the Steelers’ receiver Chase Claypool at the trade deadline and he is set to make his Bears debut on Sunday against the Dolphins.
Scarcity of Opportunities
In terms of play calling, the coaches have not exactly given Fields the possibility to put up big numbers. Fields has only thrown the ball 156 times this season. That puts him at 28th in the NFL and behind players such as Kenny Pickett, Andy Dalton, and Tua Tagavailoa who have all missed significant playing time this season for one reason or another. A second limiting factor of the play calling is red zone opportunities. Fields is currently 28th in red zone pass attempts which is also behind many players who have not been season long starters like Fields has been. Whether it’s because he has yet to earn the trust of first year head coach Matt Eberflus or if the Bears are just taking a more conservative approach to the offense, Justin Fields simply isn’t getting the chance to put up flashy numbers.
Enough with the “explanations.” Let's talk about what Justin Fields does well.
Despite the pitfalls the 2022 season has brought, Fields has shown star potential in several aspects of his game. The most glaringly obvious is his rushing abilities. To this point, Fields has amassed close to 500 rushing yards to go along with 3 rushing touchdowns. Fields even clocked in at 21.23 miles per hour, the fastest of any ball carrier in week 8. Pro Football Focus grades him as the fourth best rushing quarterback and one of only five players with a grade of eighty or higher. Fields’ ability to scramble and make something out of nothing adds a new dimension to the Bears offense that was not there in years past with quarterbacks like Andy Dalton, Nick Foles, and Mitch Trubisky.
To go along with his dual threat ability, Fields has an outstanding deep ball. In 2021, Ian Haritz of Pro Football Focus shared a chart regarding quarterbacks number of “big-time throws.” Fields was ranked third in big-time throws, trailing only two established veterans in both Kyler Murray and Derek Carr. Haritz himself wrote that Fields had “an encouraging number of ‘elite’ throws.”
A crucial aspect of Fields’ game that can’t be tangibly measured is his toughness. There really aren’t many quarterbacks who are willing to take hits and even dish them out like Fields does. Going back to his college days at Ohio State, Fields took an absolute missile of a hit to the ribs from James Skalski that landed him a targeting penalty and an ejection. Despite the blow to the ribs early on, Fields hobbled his way to 22 of 28 passing, 385 yards, 6 touchdowns, and a Sugar Bowl victory that would lead Ohio State to their first national championship game since the 2014-15 season.
