If you were looking for a reason why Justin Fields chose the New York Jets over the Pittsburgh Steelers, I might have an answer. Maybe there was a small discrepancy in the money, though I think that is up for debate. It sounds like the Jets want to empower him to reach his full potential. They want to allow him to run the offense and put more responsibility on his plate.
“Obviously, we want to utilize his legs, but we also want him to play quarterback,” Jets HC Aaron Glenn said at the owner’s meeting via the Jets’ YouTube channel. “This offseason, we are gonna allow him during OTAs to go out there and run an offense, and we are gonna make sure we surround him with the right type of people that’s gonna make him successful.
“…I want him to be a part of what we’re doing, but I think he’s a dynamic player, and I think there’s more that we can get outta that player, and I’m looking forward to that.”
The Steelers weren’t even giving Russell Wilson full control of the offense, and he was in his 13th season in the NFL. They certainly weren’t giving Fields full control, and it showed in their game plan. They specifically made the decision to avoid the middle of the field in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons, for example.
To be fair to Pittsburgh, he wasn’t the expected starter until just before the first game when Wilson’s calf injury flared back up. They had time to install an offense for Fields throughout training camp, but they were never fully preparing for him to be the Week 1 starter.
Things may have been different this year with a full offseason knowing he’s the starter, but how is Fields supposed to believe he will be given more freedom? Again, I point back to the fact that Wilson didn’t even have full freedom by the end of the season.
“We gonna let him play quarterback,” Glenn doubled down. “I mean, that’s what he’s always wanted to do. And listen, I’m not saying that he hasn’t had a chance to play that/do that in other places, and that’s not my issue. But I know what I wanna do with that player and obviously wanna utilize his legs, but I also wanna give him a chance to go out there and play quarterback.”
By the end of the season, Justin Fields was relegated to a gadget role where he would sub in for a few downs here and there to use his rushing abilities. The Steelers couldn’t even figure out how to properly implement his package plays, let alone an entire offense for him.
I do think it would have been another positive step forward for him if he trusted the coaching staff that helped turn his career around. He went from a player who couldn’t fetch more than a conditional sixth-round pick to a player making $20 million per season. But can you really blame him for going somewhere with what seems like much more trust and freedom within the offense?
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