Expert Finally Tears Down Persistent Criticism Of Justin Fields

Justin Fields had a much better season in 2022 than he did as a rookie. Nobody can deny that. He was an electric runner, finishing just shy of Lamar Jackson’s single-season record with 1,143 yards. His passing improved too, going from a 73.2 passer rating to an 85.2. However, certain problems remain. He only topped 200 yards passing in a game twice. He fumbled 16 times. To top it off, he was sacked 55 times. Several people point the finger at the Chicago Bears’ subpar offensive line for this. Many others think Fields himself is to blame.

The common criticism is that he has a bad tendency to hold the ball too long. He was terrible at processing things quickly and getting the ball out fast. Either that, or he stubbornly waited for somebody to come open down the field. When nothing was there, he’d start scrambling and often run himself into a sack. ESPN continually insisted the Bears had one of the better pass-blocking fronts in the league. Jonathan Wood of Da Bears Blog finally decided to put this argument to bed.

He did the research and came away with impressive findings.

“I want to take a moment to think about Justin Fields, who some argue holds the ball too long and thus invites the pressures and sacks that he takes. There is some truth to this argument, as he was blamed for pressures at the 2nd highest rate of any QB. However, it’s worth noting that other QBs with a similar style of play are blamed for pressures at a similar rate. Lamar Jackson was actually worse, accounting for a pressure every 10 drop backs, while Jalen Hurts was at 16 drop backs/pressure blamed. Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen were both blamed for a similar total number of pressures, though less often on a per-snap basis than Fields because they had more drop backs. If you want to think of it in terms of % of pressures the QB got blamed for, Fields was at 24%, which was actually less than Jackson (34%) and Hurts (26%), with Mahomes and Allen both at 20%…

…The pressure numbers also translate to sacks. PFF blamed Fields for 13 sacks last year (matching Windy City Gridiron’s sackwatch), which was tied for the most in the NFL. Once again, that’s not ideal, but not out of the ordinary; 7 of 33 QBs were blamed for 10+ sacks, including Jalen Hurts (13), Justin Herbert (13), and Lamar Jackson (12) all being nearly identical to Fields. Fields as a whole was sacked 55 times, much more than Hurts (38), Herbert (38), or Lamar (26). That seismic gulf shows the problem with Chicago’s offensive line.”

Justin Fields will be better with better protection.

People forget that he is more than capable of throwing at a high level. Just look back to his rookie season for evidence. Over his final four games of that season, he cracked 200 yards three times. The reason for this success wasn’t hard to determine. He was only sacked ten times over those four games, a rate of 2.5 per game. By contrast, the rate was 3.67 during the 2022 season. In other words, Fields has already proven he can be a far more effective passer when his protection is even modestly better.

That is why GM Ryan Poles spent significant resources this off-season to improve the Bears’ offensive line. Nate Davis arrived as a free agent to bolster their guard position. Then came Darnell Wright in the 1st round, the best pass-protecting tackle in the draft. Those additions allowed Teven Jenkins to shift over to left guard and Cody Whitehair back to center. If everybody settles into those spots as they should, Justin Fields should be far better protected this season. Should that happen, expect better numbers to follow.