What are people doing with Justin Fields, buying or selling?

[frerichs5]

Check this out. (Is there any way to imbed a Tweet/video?)

https://twitter.com/CEmma670/status/1664059806540259332

I was hoping this was something good. Lol

Oh no. The slo mo flag football videos are starting already. Curious what I am supposed to be seeing? Is that hoodie he's wearing a new item or something?

I heard Jordan Mcnamara (sp?) making fun of these videos a few days ago. Was pretty funny. Get ready, because there will be plenty more, from the 31 other teams.

On the positive side though, it's good he didn't take a sack, there.

This made me laugh harder than it should have. I’d be impressed if he took a sack in 7 on 7.

[wickerkat1212]

Fields to DJM. It's happening.

[cazzie33]

Russell Wilson took sacks in ONE on NONE drills but pumped up the huddle to do better while talking to his non-existent teammates ( for real)

[FantasyFreak]

Russell Wilson took sacks in ONE on NONE drills but pumped up the huddle to do better while talking to his non-existent teammates ( for real)

[mild]

Okay, I had to look up that stat, and you're right. BUT the difference between Fields and say Mahomes is .1 second. I mean, come on. LOL. It's not that Fields had five seconds and the rest of the NFL had 2. Also, sacks ARE often directly related to bad OL play. Processing/decision making time also is directly related to whether a WR/TE can GET OPEN OR NOT.

Say it with me now y'all: Sacks are a QB stat.

Much has been written on this in the past decade to the point that what I'm positing here is not really even news. Really, it's closer to accepted gospel. I've attached a smattering of this for the betterment of the conversation here within.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/130 ... le-realize

https://www.thebiglead.com/posts/sacks- ... dxqapkgvw9

https://twitter.com/ScottBarrettDFB/sta ... 2506433536

If you take nothing else away, consider this "high level" thought proposition:

"Which brings us to sack rate. It is one of the most consistent things when a quarterback changes teams. It is one of the least consistent things when a team changes quarterbacks. This tells me that the quarterback plays a larger role than people think in determining a team’s sack rate.

Again, I don’t know what exact percentage is attributable to the quarterback versus the line, and I certainly don’t think the line is irrelevant in determining a quarterback taking hits. I just think we measure line play by the wrong stat if we focus solely on sack rate. Sack rate does seem to have a lot to do with a quarterback’s style, decision making, and willingness (or unwillingness) to gamble with a throw before ready. A quarterback with a tendency to take fewer sacks is going to get rid of the ball; it’s his yards per attempt and completion percentage that are going to reflect whether the line did a good job. Was he throwing the ball when he wanted to, or before he wanted to?"

Armed with this insight: back to Fields.

Should he improve, with a drastically rebuilt supporting cast around him? We've got to think so. Will it be a hop, a skip, or a jump? That's the question.

But lest you think "any improvement is good enough improvement" - let's just remember how high a hill we're climbing here:

A sack rate of 14.7% on attempts (worst in the league - 55 sacks total) is insane. Consider that Russell Wilson tied for the lead here in sacks taken - but had over 150 more pass attempts to get there.

22nd in EPA per dropback. (His rushing floats this)
EPA per attempt ie. just throwing? 29th last year... ie. he's got Colts era Matt Ryan for company.

No matter how much you cut the advanced passing stats page on Football Outsiders, he's pretty much always last.

The mountain here to climb is vast, people.

[murphysxm]

Or the Bears realize what they have at QB and that is why they don’t call pass plays. To be fair, could go either way.

[wickerkat1212]

I wonder how MUCH better he has to get with sacks in order to win, in order to do well. The Bears see his weaknesses, for sure. We all do. That's why they improved the OL, the RB room, the WRs, etc. Based on how bad SOME of his stats were, there's really nowhere to go but up. The question is how FAR up he can go.

[mild]

I wonder how MUCH better he has to get with sacks in order to win, in order to do well. The Bears see his weaknesses, for sure. We all do. That's why they improved the OL, the RB room, the WRs, etc. Based on how bad SOME of his stats were, there's really nowhere to go but up. The question is how FAR up he can go.

If he could get his sack rate back down into the single digit percentages that would be a great start.

For a guy with all that juice as a rusher... his pocket movement and awareness - thus far - has left a lot to be desired. This dude loves eating sacks.

I was big on the Jalen Hurts bandwagon last year (helping drive it, if you'd believe that) but one thing Hurts was showing even early on was a command of what he was *supposed* to be doing as a QB - even if the accuracy wasn't there yet, he was at least on-schedule within the offense, and grasping it schematically.

Fields still feels like an athlete trying to play QB, at least thus far. Now - maybe that gets better if he's got an elite WR that he can just lock-on to, and therefore speed up (or remove the need to make) his "read". I'm keen to see it. I'm not hating on the guy, I legit hope he makes the leap.

[wickerkat1212]

I wonder how MUCH better he has to get with sacks in order to win, in order to do well. The Bears see his weaknesses, for sure. We all do. That's why they improved the OL, the RB room, the WRs, etc. Based on how bad SOME of his stats were, there's really nowhere to go but up. The question is how FAR up he can go.

If he could get his sack rate back down into the single digit percentages that would be a great start.

For a guy with all that juice as a rusher... his pocket movement and awareness - thus far - has left a lot to be desired. This dude loves eating sacks.

I was big on the Jalen Hurts bandwagon last year (helping drive it, if you'd believe that) but one thing Hurts was showing even early on was a command of what he was *supposed* to be doing as a QB - even if the accuracy wasn't there yet, he was at least on-schedule within the offense, and grasping it schematically.

Fields still feels like an athlete trying to play QB, at least thus far. Now - maybe that gets better if he's got an elite WR that he can just lock-on to, and therefore speed up (or remove the need to make) his "read". I'm keen to see it. I'm not hating on the guy, I legit hope he makes the leap.

Sounds good, definitely has to get rid of it sooner, even if he has to throw it away. I think better WRs across the board (DJM, Mooney, and Claypool) plus a better OL should really help.

[Hottoddies]

For everyone who thought that Justin Fields' was not processing his reads fast enough:

Bears QB Justin Fields: "I felt like I wasn't necessarily playing my game. I felt like I was robotic ... not playing like myself. My goal this week is to ... play football how I know how to play football. That includes thinking less and going out there and playing off instincts."

... and talking about thinking less and playing off instincts; when asked what was wrong with the offense, Field's replied, "coaching".

[wickerkat1212]

For everyone who thought that Justin Fields' was not processing his reads fast enough:

Bears QB Justin Fields: "I felt like I wasn't necessarily playing my game. I felt like I was robotic ... not playing like myself. My goal this week is to ... play football how I know how to play football. That includes thinking less and going out there and playing off instincts."

... and talking about thinking less and playing off instincts; when asked what was wrong with the offense, Field's replied, "coaching".

They won't beat KC, but I'd love to see them look better. What would happen if they DID beat KC? LOL JFC, heads would explode.

[Dynasty DeLorean]

For everyone who thought that Justin Fields' was not processing his reads fast enough:

Bears QB Justin Fields: "I felt like I wasn't necessarily playing my game. I felt like I was robotic ... not playing like myself. My goal this week is to ... play football how I know how to play football. That includes thinking less and going out there and playing off instincts."

... and talking about thinking less and playing off instincts; when asked what was wrong with the offense, Field's replied, "coaching".

He basically wants to just 1 read and then run. Fair enough, he can put up fantasy points doing that, but he’ll never be any good that way. This is scary news if you are a Fields fan bc he’s flat out saying he literally isn’t capable of improving.

[Anteaters]

This is scary news if you are a Fields fan bc he’s flat out saying he literally isn’t capable of improving.

Exactly.
Fields is saying, "I am not good enough to be able to go through my progressions in a timely manner, and I don't think I ever will be. I want to look once, then run. And dagnabbit, that's what I'm going to do."

[frerichs5]

For everyone who thought that Justin Fields' was not processing his reads fast enough:

Bears QB Justin Fields: "I felt like I wasn't necessarily playing my game. I felt like I was robotic ... not playing like myself. My goal this week is to ... play football how I know how to play football. That includes thinking less and going out there and playing off instincts."

... and talking about thinking less and playing off instincts; when asked what was wrong with the offense, Field's replied, "coaching".

He basically wants to just 1 read and then run. Fair enough, he can put up fantasy points doing that, but he’ll never be any good that way. This is scary news if you are a Fields fan bc he’s flat out saying he literally isn’t capable of improving.

That’s how I read this too. Revert to last year. Screw the pass unless it’s wide open and just run.

[j4pac]

For everyone who thought that Justin Fields' was not processing his reads fast enough:

Bears QB Justin Fields: "I felt like I wasn't necessarily playing my game. I felt like I was robotic ... not playing like myself. My goal this week is to ... play football how I know how to play football. That includes thinking less and going out there and playing off instincts."

... and talking about thinking less and playing off instincts; when asked what was wrong with the offense, Field's replied, "coaching".

He basically wants to just 1 read and then run. Fair enough, he can put up fantasy points doing that, but he’ll never be any good that way. This is scary news if you are a Fields fan bc he’s flat out saying he literally isn’t capable of improving.

That’s how I read this too. Revert to last year. Screw the pass unless it’s wide open and just run.

That has been the recipe for most running QBs, and it works to a degree. He has a better supporting cast than last year…so there is no reason for him to be worse unless the coaching is hurting him.