Objectively speaking, Justin Fields was significantly better in 2022 compared to his rookie season. His passing stats improved, and he morphed into one of the most dangerous running quarterbacks in the entire NFL. Yet despite this, plenty of experts believe it would be in the best interests of the Chicago Bears to move on. They have the #1 overall pick. GM Ryan Poles should trade Fields while his value is still high and use that pick to select his quarterback of choice. That seems like a knee-jerk reaction considering the circumstances.
Sure, Fields didn’t have the greatest season as a passer. His 149.5 yards per game were by far the worst in the league, and he threw 17 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. Even he admitted the passing game could’ve been better. However, he didn’t have much help. The offensive line struggled in protection all season, and his array of weapons was mediocre at best. He hopes the wealth of salary cap space and high draft picks will allow the team to bring in more help. However, that isn’t a primary reason Fields is confident he’ll be better in 2023.
It is Luke Getsy returning as offensive coordinator for a second season. He explained why to Scott Polacek of Bleacher Report.
“It’s going to make a big difference,” Fields said. “Just the fact that last offseason I had to work on changing my footwork while not really knowing the routes we were going to throw and not really knowing anything in the offense. Now, I’ve got a good idea of what we’re going to run, the route concepts we’re going to run and the different actions that we’re going to run.”
Justin Fields will finally see stability in the offensive scheme.
People always gloss over how important something like this is to a quarterback’s development. Jay Cutler always said one doesn’t fully master a system until his third year. The bitter irony is that he never reached that third season with any of the Chicago offensive coordinators he worked with. Only Mike Martz and Marc Trestman reached a second season. Cutler was in MVP talks that second year under Martz and threw for the second-most yards and touchdowns in that second year under Trestman.
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History also says quarterbacks tend to struggle in their first year running this wide-zone offense Getsy installed. Aaron Rodgers had his fourth-worst passer rating for a season in 2019 during his first year in it. Matt Ryan had 21 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in his first. Matt Schaub had nine TDs and nine interceptions in his first. The encouraging part is that all three ended up having excellent second seasons. Rodgers and Ryan won MVPs. Schaub passed for the most yards in Houston Texans history.
That is why Justin Fields is confident, and it’s not hard to see why.
The reality is good quarterbacks are good quarterbacks. Period. Fields is either going to grow into a good overall QB or he isn’t. I think he will. But a good QB doesn’t need 3 years in a system or a full year to click with a new wr.. look around the league at the good QB’s.. there are numerous that are in the 1st year of a system.. have newer wr’s.. etc. Doesn’t stop the good QB’s from being good. I think if u give Fields better protection and he can start to trust his line, and not feel so… Read more »
Tired of the “it takes 3yrs excuse” you get paid to perform
Maybe Fields, who was a throwing QB in college, having to constantly run for his d@mn life behind one of the cr@ppiest OL in the NLF had something to do with it. It’ll be amazing how he’ll suddenly “improve” next year after a (hopefully) productive free agency and draft.
Bringing Cutler up as an example was on point. I lived through those years and it was incredibly frustrating. It seemed every year or two the Bears brought in a new OC with a new scheme and everyone on offense had to start all over again. I wasn’t as big a fan of Cutler as most but he wasn’t given any offensive continuity and it showed. Yet everyone kept blaming him for coming up short. What made it even worse was that we had some serious studs like Marshall, Jeffries, Bennet and Forte on the same offense for a while.… Read more »
Good article. As a former QB myself, I can tell you it is extremely difficult to have an efficient and highly productive offense when there is turnover at the OC position every year or two. It’s not only difficult for the QB, but also for everyone on Offense to repeatedly have to learn a new system. This should be a breakout year for Fields. Part of the reason he holds the ball too long is because of everyone was learning a new system this past year AND he had new receivers in the system as well. While he will have… Read more »