People had no problem dumping on Justin Fields before the NFL draft. That is the nature of the beast. The quarterback gets the blame for everything. So when he struggled against teams like Indiana and Northwestern, evaluators took a step back. Maybe he’s not quite as good as some people thought. Yet it’s easy to forget that football is a team sport. As important as the quarterback is, he is still at the mercy of the talent around him.
What not enough people are talking about is how Fields emerged from the 2020 college season with fewer highly-lauded teammates than any of the other prominent quarterbacks. Check out this chart below. Credit goes to @thegeorgetwo for putting it together. It showcases the level of protection each of the top quarterbacks had, the number of drops by their receivers, and how much help they got from screens. Fields had the lowest mark in four of the five categories.
https://twitter.com/thegeorgetwo/status/1390055477065682944
Evidence of this was exposed in the draft as well.
Of the other top QBs drafted who came from big schools, Fields was the only one who didn’t have a single receiver, tight end, or running back taken in the first two rounds. Mac Jones had two receivers and a running back go in the 1st. Trevor Lawrence had a running back go in the 1st. Even Kyle Trask had a tight end and a wide receiver go in the 1st. The earliest Fields had one of his weapons go was running back Trey Sermon in the 3rd round.
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This should paint a clear picture. Despite the lack of idyllic circumstances around him, Fields still threw for 2,100 yards, 22 touchdowns, and just six interceptions in eight games. He swept his conference and got his team to the national championship game. All without any genuine star talent around him save for wide receiver Chris Olave who stayed in school. That isn’t getting enough attention.
Some wonder if the Bears can build around Justin Fields
Needless to say, the confidence in this organization isn’t exactly high. They’ve failed at building a proper structure around their quarterbacks many times before. GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy have their work cut out for them. Some around the league aren’t enamored with the offensive talent they have. Something made even more challenging to fix by no 1st round pick in 2022 and limited cap space. To say nothing of the lingering questions about Nagy’s offensive system.
Can Justin Fields fix all of that? Nobody knows for sure. He certainly has a level of talent that is rare even for the NFL. Perhaps he can elevate this roster like Mitch Trubisky failed to. There is no telling what the future holds. All the Bears know right now is they believe Fields is the missing piece to their puzzle. The guy they want to build around for the future. This wasn’t a move made thinking just about 2021. This is about years down the road.
The team does have pieces.
Allen Robinson is still really good. David Montgomery is good. James Daniels and Cody Whitehair are good. Darnell Mooney has a ton of promise. The same goes for Cole Kmet and rookie Teven Jenkins. This offense has pieces to work with. It comes down to whether Fields can get the most out of them. Similar to what he did at Ohio State.