Is Justin Fields a draft bust? How the Bears and QB share blame for slow career start
Justin Fields #JustinFields
Bustin’ Fields?
It’s still too early to call it one way or another on the Bears quarterback’s career, but the returns haven’t exactly been promising in his sophomore season. Fields has been one of the league’s worst passers in 2022, a trend that has unfortunately followed him from his rookie season.
So far through 2022, Fields has completed 63 passes for four touchdowns, 869 yards, five interceptions, a 54.8 completion rate and a 57.1 overall PFF grade. Those aren’t exactly encouraging numbers, nor do they paint a rosy picture for Fields’ future in Chicago.
That blame, though, doesn’t fall on one single player, position group, coach or front office executive. Some of that has been his poor supporting cast, some of that has been coaching and some of that has been on Fields himself.
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At a high level, it’s much too soon to label Fields as anything, one way or the other. That said, there’s not much debate that the passer hasn’t gotten off to the start that he anticipated in his career. Some of that is on the Bears, while some of that is on the QB himself.
The Bears didn’t do a whole lot to surround Fields with next-level talent this offseason, the first of Ryan Poles’ tenure as general manager. While Fields developed chemistry with Darnell Mooney in his rookie season, he entered his sophomore season with Mooney and a wide receiver room that included the following:
At best, that’s a mishmash of wideouts, comprised of rookies, reclamation projects and veterans with no clear defining point, aside from speed. At worst, it’s a group of wide receivers thrown at the wall to see what sticks.
There’s also the offensive line, which is among the worst in the league: Through six weeks, the Bears’ pass-blocking unit has a collective grade of 53.7, which is ranked 27th in the NFL, per PFF. That’s not exactly the type of protection that you want to give a second-year passer.
While neither his skill-position corps nor his protection has done him many favors, Fields still owns the brunt of the blame for his poor 2022 season.
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One of the major knocks on Fields coming out of Ohio State was his processing speed, and that’s an issue that has persisted through his pro tenure.
It would be easy to point to Fields’ extreme sack numbers (23 sacks leads the NFL) and say that the Bears’ pass blocking isn’t doing its job. But, as the saying goes, sacks are a quarterback stat, and Fields has been the textbook example of that this year.
Fields’ sack per drop rate is among the highest in the league. That doesn’t mesh well with the fact that the Bears’ pass blocking also has a pretty high pass-block win rate. That’s a fancy way of saying: Fields’ inability to get the ball out to, well, anyone (or scramble) at any given time results in sacks that shouldn’t be sacks.
Distrust in the offensive line leads to a lot of distrust in what your eyes are telling you. Fields has missed receivers throughout the season and bailed from clean pockets. While there’s nothing wrong with using the athleticism to escape the pass rush, a quarterback still has to find a way to make plays.
So, is Justin Fields a draft bust? While it’s still early, the evidence is, sadly, starting to lean in one direction.
Just try not to ask Bears fans that question.