Justin Fields Megathread - A story of Lovers and Haters

[Yogi da Bear]

I think I need to show some video to make this point clear.

What several posters here are saying is that on this play, you'd like to see Justin throw the ball away. This was a designed play to Mooney in the flat, who was covered. I'm saying, I'd rather see him do this than throw the ball away when Mooney was taken away and 4 defenders were approaching him, and I'm willing to accept the fact that sometimes in his attempt to do things like this he will take sacks. If you insist he play safer and throw this ball away, you are "Nagy'ing" him IMO. You gotta let him play his game, take the good with the bad, and hope the good outweighs the bad. And I will again point back to Coach Day, who said exactly that. You can't define certain players and force them into your mold. Mac Jones needs to throw that ball away, Justin Fields need to do what we see here. They are different players and need to be coached/evaluated differently. Yes, Mac Jones will take less sacks. Also yes, Justin Fields will make more big plays. I choose big plays.

This is a great example proving your point DP. There are a bunch of others: The Pettis TD against the Niners and the Dolphin come immediately to my mind, but there are many, many others. But don't forget the other two sides of the triangle that contribute to Justin's sack rate:

First, there's his weakness in finding the checkdown as seen here:



Kmet was wide open there. Should have been a score. In fact, his Miami run is also indicative of this:



He could have hit Kmet again. And as nifty as Fields' run was, I'm not sure if I wouldn't have preferred him hitting the open Kmet. Football is a team game. Fields has to be careful not to take to much onto himself.

Second, the third part of the triangle is Justin's inability to throw a player open. He hasn't yet learned to throw with anticipation.



This intermediate route that has to be thrown with anticipation is something that Justin has admitted he really has work on.

Personally, another year in the system, and in the NFL for that matter, will help Justin tremendously. Moore will too, particularly on those intermediate routes. But we can't just say that Justin is going to be sacked more because he's looking for the big play. It's a factor, but that's not all it is. He still has a lot of work to do.

[Grizzled]

For Ditka's Dictaphone:

https://dawindycity.com/2023/04/08/chic ... -2023-mvp/

[Ditka’s dictaphone]

Thanks Grizz

[Grizzled]

Thanks Grizz

He has the physical and mental abilities. The team is putting pieces in place around him and should shore up RT and hopefully C in the draft. Now if he just learns to dump the ball if no one's open, and no reason he can't get in this habit, he's going to get more and more amazing each year. Maybe he should study Tom Brady and Erin Rodgers, both are among the fastest in the league in getting the ball out of their hands.

[dplank]

Thanks Grizz

He has the physical and mental abilities. The team is putting pieces in place around him and should shore up RT and hopefully C in the draft. Now if he just learns to dump the ball if no one's open, and no reason he can't get in this habit, he's going to get more and more amazing each year. Maybe he should study Tom Brady and Erin Rodgers, both are among the fastest in the league in getting the ball out of their hands.

I don’t want to turn him into something he’s not. Our best case is that he just marginally improves on his risk taking with his legs and throws the ball away when there’s just no chance of a play. I don’t want to lose his explosive plays, most of which came off script on scrambles, by asking him to play like Brady. That’s just not his game.

[Grizzled]

He has the physical and mental abilities. The team is putting pieces in place around him and should shore up RT and hopefully C in the draft. Now if he just learns to dump the ball if no one's open, and no reason he can't get in this habit, he's going to get more and more amazing each year. Maybe he should study Tom Brady and Erin Rodgers, both are among the fastest in the league in getting the ball out of their hands.

I don’t want to turn him into something he’s not. Our best case is that he just marginally improves on his risk taking with his legs and throws the ball away when there’s just no chance of a play. I don’t want to lose his explosive plays, most of which came off script on scrambles, by asking him to play like Brady. That’s just not his game.

That would be fine if he'd just throw it away instead of looking and looking for a guy to get free. But adding Moore is going to open up Claypool and Mooney and possibly Kmet, that's what a #1 guy does so maybe guys getting frre won't be as much of an issue this year. I have no problem with him pulling the ball down and running as long as he avoids hits as much as possible.

[The Marshall Plan]

JF1 did literally everything he possibly could to try and get this team to win last year.

Poles and Floozy both failed him massively with the lack of a supporting cast on offense and fielding a competent defense to keep games competitive.

Players were either injured or traded by the boatload.

The guy was basically Rambo out there working his ass off every Sunday and knowingly putting his body at risk to try and make chicken salad out of chicken shit in a lost season.

And he produced.

Hell freezes over before I critique a guy like that.

Imagine what he does with an actual TEAM around him.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

He has the physical and mental abilities. The team is putting pieces in place around him and should shore up RT and hopefully C in the draft. Now if he just learns to dump the ball if no one's open, and no reason he can't get in this habit, he's going to get more and more amazing each year. Maybe he should study Tom Brady and Erin Rodgers, both are among the fastest in the league in getting the ball out of their hands.

I don’t want to turn him into something he’s not. Our best case is that he just marginally improves on his risk taking with his legs and throws the ball away when there’s just no chance of a play. I don’t want to lose his explosive plays, most of which came off script on scrambles, by asking him to play like Brady. That’s just not his game.

He actually did improve at throwing the ball away when nothing was there as the season progressed and as dplank says you don't want to neuter his improvising and breaking off those big runs.

The area he needs to improve is not making throws that are there to be made. There were times last season when receivers were open, by NFL standards, and he saw it but didn't release the ball. Hopefully the addition of DJ Moore and an offseason spent building a rapport with him and Claypool will develop the necessary trust so we'll see less of that this coming season.

The other area I want to see him improve significantly is checking it down to the RB. If the downfield throws aren't there then he has to move on more quickly through his progression and just dump it off. The RBs were woefully underused in the passing game last season because he didn't do that nearly often enough.

[IE]

JF1 is always going to be near the bottom in getting rid of the ball.

He'll get better at the really bad ones with experience.

[Mikefive]

[bbaker]

I always get a kick out of Justin mentioning his high school. I'll be there in about an hour picking up my son from Track practice. My guess is that he is probably in the area today since Easter was yesterday. His dad lives about a half mile from me, my boys were joking about driving over there and asking if Justin could come out and play.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

[malk]

I don’t want to turn him into something he’s not. Our best case is that he just marginally improves on his risk taking with his legs and throws the ball away when there’s just no chance of a play. I don’t want to lose his explosive plays, most of which came off script on scrambles, by asking him to play like Brady. That’s just not his game.

He actually did improve at throwing the ball away when nothing was there as the season progressed and as dplank says you don't want to neuter his improvising and breaking off those big runs.

The area he needs to improve is not making throws that are there to be made. There were times last season when receivers were open, by NFL standards, and he saw it but didn't release the ball. Hopefully the addition of DJ Moore and an offseason spent building a rapport with him and Claypool will develop the necessary trust so we'll see less of that this coming season.

The other area I want to see him improve significantly is checking it down to the RB. If the downfield throws aren't there then he has to move on more quickly through his progression and just dump it off. The RBs were woefully underused in the passing game last season because he didn't do that nearly often enough.

Agree with these but also want to see the really bad interceptions eliminated. There were a handful where he just throws it straight at the defender. Obvs I don't know if it was a breakdown in the route or whatever but, from memory at least, a few looked like even if the receiver was in the wrong he needs to have a little alarm at the back of his mind giving him early warning on that and telling him to hold it back.

Of course that's the opposite of him getting better with anticipation throws etc. but being a QB is hard!

[HisRoyalSweetness]

If Bears QB Justin Fields now has everything he needs, so does OC Luke Getsy
...

Getsy got some grace in his first season, when Fields was still fledgling and the roster was being done on a budget. Still, the results were rough. The Bears were 23rd in points at 19.2 per game, and Fields was last among NFL starters at 149.5 yards passing per game.

When Getsy was asked in January what ideas he had to turn that around, he responded by asking who was going to be on the team. Now he knows. The Bears have upgraded the offensive line and wide receiver corps, so as long as Getsy can keep Fields on an upward trajectory, all the pieces should be in place.

“One of the things that I was reflecting on after the draft happened was just kind of looking at the roster that we had a year ago [compared] to where we’re at,” he said before a rookie minicamp practice Saturday. “In the numbers sense and the competition that we’ll have now, that part of it will be the best thing that we have.”

While Getsy’s responsibilities are wide ranging, Fields is his priority. If Fields takes off as a passer, so will the offense — and with it, Getsy’s career.

Getsy helped with due diligence as the Bears compared Fields against the draft prospects’ potential and came away further convinced that Fields was their answer.

His confidence is rooted in the improvement Fields made after his haphazard rookie season and in better personnel eliminating the need for Fields to scramble as often, which led to an impressive — but probably unsustainable — season of 1,143 yards rushing.

“He’s just lightyears ahead of where he was, and I feel like he has a ton more to grow going forward,” Getsy said. “We’re excited to try to get the best out of him moving forward and keep working toward where we think he can go.

“Then it goes to everything: Getting the team around him better and us all being together for another year... We’re hoping to build off of all that stuff.”
...

Despite his shortcomings, Fields showed enough potential. To an extent, it’s impressive that he has progressed at all given the circumstances with which the Bears saddled him. There’s no question there’s a star quarterback in there, but can Getsy bring it out of him?

Coach Matt Eberflus said that has been the emphasis in his offseason meetings with Getsy — “The passing game is the priority,” he said — and specifically addressed rhythm and timing issues with Fields. The Bears began tweaking his footwork and sharpening his decision making a year ago, and now it’s time to see results. Based on seeing his workouts at the facility, Eberflus said Fields has “really made some big strides.”
...

Full article: https://chicago.suntimes.com/bears/2023 ... luke-getsy

[HisRoyalSweetness]

A little more on the above, this time from Coral Smith over at nfl.com:

Bears OC Luke Getsy says QB Justin Fields already 'light-years ahead' of this time last year
...

The Bears' final 3-14 record may not have reflected it, but Fields made great strides in his sophomore season, most notably in the running game. The 23-year-old broke multiple QB records in rushing on his way to a team-leading 1143 yards and eight TDs, using his legs to keep his team in games.

But there were still things to improve upon, as Fields led the league in fumbles (16) and struggled with the passing game at times, including throwing 11 interceptions and averaging under 150 passing yards per game.

Though the offseason is still in its early phases, Fields is already putting in the hours to improve those numbers, with head coach Matt Eberflus seconding his OC's assertion that Fields is showing visible improvement in key areas.

"Part of that (needed improvement) is rhythm and timing. That's the footwork with Justin," Eberflus said. "He's been working on that really, really good in terms of the quick pass, dropback pass, movement pass, and he's really made some big strides in that area coming in so far -- on his own and now coming into the phase two (of the offseason), that first week."

The Bears should be excited if Fields can unlock his potential in the passing game, and the offensive acquisitions Chicago has made this offseason will certainly help lay the groundwork for a significant jump in production.
...

With rookie minicamps underway and veterans set to report to OTAs within the next few weeks, there hasn't been much opportunity as of yet for Fields to work with with his new receivers. But Getsy believes that once Fields and Moore get that chance to build a camaraderie, everything will flow from there.

"As great of a quarterback as you can be or as great as a receiver can be, if there's not a relationship and a connection between the two of them, then it doesn't really matter," Getsy said. "What's cool is DJ's experiences that he's had, he's had to play with a few different quarterbacks and a few different systems. So you can tell he doesn't really get fazed by the new, which is going to be really good. Once those two can communicate with each other -- body language, quick communication verbally and stuff -- all that will get better as we get going."
...

Full article: https://www.nfl.com/news/bears-oc-luke- ... -this-time

[thunderspirit]

I love JF1.

But, I don't believe a word from the coaches about any player at this point in the offseason. Mitch Trubisky was acing Nagy 201 in 2018, too.

[dplank]

Justin just got his degree from OSU - clearly a slacker. Congrats JF1!

[AZ_Bearfan]

[HisRoyalSweetness]

Justin just got his degree from OSU - clearly a slacker. Congrats JF1!

[Burl]

Justin just got his degree from OSU - clearly a slacker. Congrats JF1!

I appreciate that Fields is a keep to himself, quiet sort of dude. I think this little tidbit tells you a lot about his personality. A serious person. I appreciate anyone who, even after becoming a multimillionaire, is grounded enough to see the simple stuff through.

Good on Justin Fields.

Edit: I just read the diploma closely. “Bachelor of Science in Human Ecology “ .

[Arkansasbear]

Justin just got his degree from OSU - clearly a slacker. Congrats JF1!

I appreciate that Fields is a keep to himself, quiet sort of dude. I think this little tidbit tells you a lot about his personality. A serious person. I appreciate anyone who, even after becoming a multimillionaire, is grounded enough to see the simple stuff through.

Good on Justin Fields.

Edit: I just read the diploma closely. “Bachelor of Science in Human Ecology “ .

Good for him. I don't think money is ever going to be an issue with him so long as he is smart with what he gets paid (and he seems to be the type of guy who will be - in his interview with GQ he talked about how he likes cheap jewelry and won't buy real earrings as he loses them), so it's not like he "needs" his degree. So that to me show a lot of character to go back and finish what you started.

Every thing this guy does makes me respect him more and more.

[Grizzled]

Justin just got his degree from OSU - clearly a slacker. Congrats JF1!

I appreciate that Fields is a keep to himself, quiet sort of dude. I think this little tidbit tells you a lot about his personality. A serious person. I appreciate anyone who, even after becoming a multimillionaire, is grounded enough to see the simple stuff through.

Good on Justin Fields.

Edit: I just read the diploma closely. “Bachelor of Science in Human Ecology “ .

I read some type of financial planning. Going to come in handy his next contract.

[dplank]

I appreciate that Fields is a keep to himself, quiet sort of dude. I think this little tidbit tells you a lot about his personality. A serious person. I appreciate anyone who, even after becoming a multimillionaire, is grounded enough to see the simple stuff through.

Good on Justin Fields.

Edit: I just read the diploma closely. “Bachelor of Science in Human Ecology “ .

I read some type of financial planning. Going to come in handy his next contract.

I hope more and more players adopt the path that Lamar and Roquan took and ditch the sports agent. Screw those vultures, why give up so much of your one big payday in life to some pencil pusher? It's not needed, and these guys are proving that and setting an example for others to follow.

[Grizzled]

I read some type of financial planning. Going to come in handy his next contract.

I hope more and more players adopt the path that Lamar and Roquan took and ditch the sports agent. Screw those vultures, why give up so much of your one big payday in life to some pencil pusher? It's not needed, and these guys are proving that and setting an example for others to follow.

Partly correct. But the agent also finds endorsement deals, etc., which can take considerable amounts of time and be quite lucrative. From what I read, Marshawn Lynch and Gronk both lived on their endoresement deals during their playing careers and banked their entire salaries and now live off those monies although Gronk is still making commercials.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

I hope more and more players adopt the path that Lamar and Roquan took and ditch the sports agent. Screw those vultures, why give up so much of your one big payday in life to some pencil pusher? It's not needed, and these guys are proving that and setting an example for others to follow.

Really? I guess it all worked out well for them in the end, but there was a lot of consternation around Jackson and Smith representing themselves and discussion around how they would have benefited from having an agent with all their experience and expertise acting on their behalf.

This article details how much NFL agents earn:

What percentage do NFL agents take from players? All you need to know about player representatives in the league

In interactions involving contracts, salaries, sponsorships, public appearances, and other commercial arrangements, NFL athletes are represented by sports agents. Agents aim to build the player's reputation, outlook, and career, and they typically get paid in commissions from the deals they facilitate.
...

Although the percentages can fluctuate, sports agents typically get between 4 and 15% of a sportsman's playing earnings and 10 to 20% of a sportsman's endorsement deals. NBA agents cannot get more than 4% of their clients' professional contracts, while professional football agents cannot take more than 3%.

The average player's salary in the sport he plays significantly impacts how much an agent makes in commission. A player's contract in professional football can range from $60,000 to several million dollars. However, due to salary caps, those with the highest salaries may not always be the ones that have the highest-paid agents.
...

According to Payscale, the typical salary for a sports agent is $59,000, plus a bonus possibility of $10,000 and an additional $15,000 in revenue-sharing incentives. An NFL agent may make $84,000 annually for each player he represents.
...

When managing a client's business, a National Football League agent has several obligations, including:

• To get the best possible compensation for a client while staying within the pay cap, the player's representative bargains with organizations on their behalf.

• In order to prevent players from saying something stupid or taking any other actions that could endanger their careers, agents frequently give players advice on PR-related matters.

• If a player is too young to handle money alone, some agencies will help.

• NFL players' careers are typically brief. Frequently, a player's agent helps with the transition from the NFL to post-NFL employment in a profession like sportscasting.

Full article: https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/what-pe ... represents.

3% isn't a large percentage, but obviously can equate to a large sum of money depending on the size of the contract. It's effectively $1.5m annually on a $50m a year deal. A top-notch, experienced agent might well be able to negotiate that amount more per year for a player than if they represented themselves. They may not even get 3%. That's the maximum. High-value players can probably negotiate a lower percentage. After all, what agent is going to turn down say 2% or even 1.5% of $50m knowing that the player can take his business elsewhere?

Agents serve a purpose, but if a player believes they can do better and don't need any of the other support an agent offers then good luck to them. Presumably they pay lawyers to scrutinise the details of a contract before signing and I'm guessing that doesn't come cheap.

[dplank]

Good point! But I was just in MD last week, Lamar commercials every two seconds it seemed lol. Personally I’d hire a talent agency for just that piece and do the contract myself. But not every player will be able to execute it, so to each his own

[Shadow]

I love JF1.

But, I don't believe a word from the coaches about any player at this point in the offseason. Mitch Trubisky was acing Nagy 201 in 2018, too.

And he Mastered the Playbook in 2019!

[IE]

Agreed on the coach's narrative on progress on players in the offseason. We'll soon see, in the preseason.

It was crazy the way that Nagy hid Mitch in the preseason that second season, pretending he was protecting him while likely scrambling in the background to get him ready for something he was never ready for after all was said & done.

[HisRoyalSweetness]

[dplank]

Definitely fake