Ready or not, the Chicago Bears are turning to Justin Fields. A knee injury to Andy Dalton is likely to sideline him for the next few weeks. That means the 11th overall pick will have a genuine chance to seize the starting job permanently. It starts this Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. Due to this, the microscope has focused even more on one man. Head coach Matt Nagy.
He is the one who runs the Bears’ offense, taking back play calling duties from Bill Lazor after the end of last season. A decision that a lot of fans and media weren’t happy about. Perhaps because his offense has never finished higher than 21st since he arrived in Chicago. Plenty of people have serious doubts about whether Nagy has the capacity to get the most out of Fields.
Calls remain loud for him to give the call sheet back to Lazor.
Except that too would be a bad idea. With all due respect, Lazor isn’t an overly accomplished play caller either. His big successes last year were against terrible defenses. No, the man Nagy would want to hand the keys to if he ever were to consider it is somebody the Bears hired this offseason. Somebody with an offensive philosophy and style that is tailor-made for a talent like Fields.
That is Tom Herman. Many football lovers should know the name. He was most recently the head coach at the University of Texas before being fired this past offseason. Rather than take an offensive coordinator job with another college program, something that was a virtual guarantee, Herman made the unusual choice to join the Bears as an offensive analyst and special projects coach. Somebody who could bring new ideas and concepts to this system.
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So what exactly makes him qualified to oversee somebody like Fields? The fact he has coached this type of quarterback for many years in college including at the rookie’s alma mater of Ohio State. He even won a national championship with it in 2014.
Justin Fields could take Herman’s offense to another level
He is easily the most talented quarterback of any this coach has ever had in a locker room. Herman’s offense is geared around having a mobile quarterback. It features lots of zone-read and RPO concepts. A downhill, power running system meant to make heavy use of play action. There are lots of slants and sticks to get the QB easy completions and then a series of dialed-up deep shots in the right situations.
Since 2012, Herman’s offense finished in the top 20 in the country four times. With three different programs. That is the sign of somebody who finds success no matter where he goes. With the NFL moving more and more towards spread concepts involving mobile quarterback, it seems like a time that is perfect for him to step up. Justin Fields is the exact sort of trigger man to make everything work.
Would Nagy ever consider this?
Doubtful. Fields is his hand-picked quarterback. The one that he believes in 100% and can make his vision for the Bears offense a reality. Unless it is a complete train wreck, he isn’t going to relinquish that call sheet again unless ownership threatens him with his job. That is something they likely won’t do. Still, having Herman on the staff gives them the option.
As good as Lamar Jackson has been in that Baltimore Ravens offense under Greg Roman, Fields could be as good or better with Herman.