Bear Digest

Justin Fields' Rookie Year Struggles

The Bears no doubt hope for more from their rookie quarterback than the inconsistency he showed but there were contributing causes beyond playing like an inexperienced player.

Gene Chamberlain

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About this time last year, the rumor mill started to churn out possible trades of Matthew Stafford and then later Carson Wentz.

The Bears definitely were front and center in those trade reports about Wentz, but numerous reports said no offer for him was actually made.

Then there was the Deshaun Watson talk before his legal troubles.

In rapid succession came the Russell Wilson trade pursuit, all legitimately reported and true as a prelude to the drafting of Justin Fields.

With Super Bowl week starting, there are all sorts of tin-foil hat theorists running around the web saying the Fields now could be traded. Perhaps in Bizzaro NFL this is true but not in the real NFL.

This is so ridiculous it should automatically have a sign posted on it saying, "all is well, nothing to see here, move along."

Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus might be new and inexperienced as GM and head coach but the only way they would ever do something like this is if they first had a legitimate replacement already lined up in terms of potential and overall quarterback ability, and could do it as cheaply as they can now with Fields on his first contract.

In other words, it would need to be a draft pick or second-year player who they feel is can't miss. No such creature exists. This year's quarterbacks are so ordinary they might as well have "generic" stamped on their arms.

Besides, George McCaskey made it a major prerequisite for the new coach and GM to tell the hiring committee what their plans for Fields would be after he had praised Fields' talents.

The only available veteran quarterback young enough to provide talent and promise like Fields is Watson, and no one knows when or if he'll be available for a legitimate trade because of the legal situation.

No one would be talking this way if Fields tore up the NFL as a rookie like Justin Herbert, or had been extremely efficient like Mac Jones.

He wasn't, but there were reasons. Here are 10 good reasons Justin Fields didn't live up to predraft hype.

10. Allen Robinson

The top Bears receiver never made himself available for offseason work or OTAs with the team at Halas Hall until minicamp because of his contract status. This is not to condemn him. This is common procedure for franchised players. The two couldn't build a connection. Also, Robinson then went through a year when he suffered a midseason hamstring injury and COVID-19. Also, offensive coaches seemed to go out of their way to feature Darnell Mooney more. Robinson didn't have a game with more than four receptions after the opener. He didn't have a touchdown catch after Week 2. He finally started to find a connection with Fields in Week 9 at Pittsburgh, and then both of them suffered injuries and later COVID-19.

9. Ryan Pace's Failure

Quarterbacks do not live on one receiver alone, or even two. The Bears needed more than Robinson and Mooney. Ryan Pace failed to provide those receivers. Their third wide receiver option had been Anthony Miller for three years and his catch totals were respectable for a third receiver with 33, 52 and 49 receptions. He had 11 total touchdowns. Marquise Goodwin was the third Bears receiver in 2021 and made only 20 catches. He suffered injury issues as he has so often in his career. Damiere Byrd got more opportunities and showed he probably should have been the one they focused on as a third wideout because he actually produced. Combined, they still didn't make as many receptions for 2021 as Miller during an off-year in 2020.

8. His Offensive Line

They failed to protect any quarterback, including Fields. They allowed an NFL high of 58 sacks. In his first start, Fields was sacked nine times as the line and the coaching staff's game plan provided no support. The line had a hard time building a cohesive unit because of constant lineup changes, but quarterbacks being thrown to the turf and fumbling the ball had other things to worry about.

7. Matt Nagy's Future

Nagy knew he had to win and decided to put his faith in veteran Andy Dalton. Then when Dalton failed, he had to fall back on the franchise's future. Fields even remarked after the season how he didn't really feel like the main leader of the offense because of Dalton's presence.

6. Matt Nagy's Plan

The plan, starting with the first OTA, was for Fields to be backup and at some point when it was "obvious" to everyone, he would take over as starter. It didn't work this way. Fields had to take second-team snaps in the offseason and training camp, then no snaps in the first two weeks of practices except with scout team. So he didn't get in sync with first-team receivers. When Dalton suffered a knee bruise, Fields had to play in Week 2 and was no more prepared than could be expected considering all the preparation time had been given to Dalton.

5. Matt Nagy's Offense

The offense rarely played to Fields' strength which is movement. When they did, it wasn't persistently pursued but flashed as an occasional counter to the regular offense. Also, PFF determined the Bears were last in the league in average separation by receivers from defenders. This is both a sign of their receivers' failures and also plays the defenses knew were coming. In other words, it was poor play design.

4. Injuries/COVID

In the Nov. 8 game with Pittsburgh, Fields seemed to arrive. He found receivers deep and rallied the team in a 29-27 loss. Just when it seemed he established a rhythm with receivers, he went out during the following game against Baltimore with broken ribs. Fields returned but couldn't re-establish what he had because in December he suffered an ankle sprain and went to the bench. Then, after that, he missed the season finale due to COVID-19.

3. Fields Holds the Ball Too Long

It has been clocked and is a problem. Even back in college it was. It contributed to his 36 sacks. It's part of the reason Fields was sacked 18 more times than Dalton when he only had 34 more pass attempts. Fields does throw downfield more than other quarterbacks, though. In late November before his ankle injury, he had the longest average depth of target in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus. So naturally he has the ball longer. At that time only Lamar Jackson, Zach Wilson and Jalen Hurts had been holding it longer, according to PFF.

2. Fields Doesn't Hold the Ball Well

He fumbled it 12 times and lost five of them. He'll need to work on pocket awareness and keep the ball out of harm's way. Turnovers and strip sacks are disruptive for any offense.

1. Fields Played Like Most Rookies

No one who watched Josh Allen as a rookie could have said he would become the player he is. His stats were worse across the board than Fields as a rookie. If not for his coach's decision not to squib-kick the ball near the goal line, it might be Allen in the Super Bowl and not Joe Burrow. Zach Wilson and Trevor Lawrence suffered through similar starts to their careers.

All of these explanations aside, time waits for no man and in the NFL it's also said time is money. 

Fields needs to start to produce from Week 1 in 2022 if he hopes to be a potential rising star.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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