Moving on from Justin Fields wasn’t a popular decision, both among fans and in the Chicago Bears locker room. Many felt he was a rare physical specimen who deserved more time to learn the game. He’d slowly helped the team improve from 3-14 to 7-10 and was still one of the game’s most dynamic rushing threats. Bears players respected him and embraced his leadership. Pivoting at quarterback right when it felt like he was starting to learn didn’t make sense. Still, GM Ryan Poles had already reached his conclusion.
As much as he loved Fields as a person, he couldn’t justify passing on a quarterback with the #1 overall pick for the second year in a row. Not when Fields still had several core issues in his game that made winning a Super Bowl unlikely. So the Bears traded him to Pittsburgh. Like in Chicago, he quickly endeared himself to fans and teammates, going 4-2 as a starter. Then, like in Chicago, he was cast aside for somebody else. The New York Jets were only too happy to lure him in as a free agent this offseason, feeling he could provide much-needed stability and playmaking. Unfortunately, it sounds like the old problems continue haunting him, according to Jets beat writer Nick Faria.
Fields hasn’t overcome what keeps getting him replaced.
“Some of the issues that we saw earlier in his career: completion percentage in the fourth quarter, being late on his reads, being too slow to process, bailing from the pocket a little bit too early, all of those things have followed him over the last four years with the Chicago Bears and the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Faria said.
“You’re seeing similar things happen at minicamp. You saw it happen where some of the issues he had where he was late on some of his throws, he was late in his processing, that was happening at minicamp.”
Justin Fields is who he is.
The general saying in the NFL is that you’re the player you will be within three years of entering the league. Justin Fields has been in it since 2021. The guy we’ve seen over the past two years is what he’ll likely always be. That is a tremendous athlete with excellent mobility, a lethal deep ball, slow processing speed, and mediocre pocket awareness. Sadly, there is often a cap on such players. They can get you to a winning record in the right conditions, but won’t win you championships. Jalen Hurts might be the lone exception, but he was aided by elite talent everywhere around him. New York doesn’t have anything close to that roster.
It is great seeing Fields get another opportunity. Sadly, expecting him to be anything more than what he was in Pittsburgh or Chicago is unrealistic. Fans would do well to set their expectations accordingly.
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