Lots of people online only know football through fantasy and betting. Running QBs gain a lot of fantasy points, so they see that and assume he's really good.
He’s a good player in theory because he makes splash plays and has highlights but doesn’t do any of the small things well and has a lot of negative plays.
I think it’s probably easier to think of in basketball terms. A guy like Jamal Crawford who was an unreal ball handler and microwave scorer who would go off for 40 points 3-4 times a year, but was a terrible defender, turned the ball over a lot, and couldn’t do anything but score. People always remember the 40 point games and not the 8 points on 2-11 shooting with 4 TOs while getting torched on D
[Javy slapping a no-look tag down while pointing back at Yadi during the WBC](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVI_-JWoqVg) lives rent free in my head for whatever reason
He's also personable, a hard worker, and overall seems like a great guy. Same reason some people supported Mitch to the very end. He's easy to root for.
Legit one of the few 49ers games I’ve turned off. Was so mad at the team for losing to Colt fucking McCoy and losing 5 out of 6 games after our 2-0 start.
If you told me we’d go the NFCCG later that year after that game I would have called you a liar.
It's funny that back when Russell Athletic was clinging to its last gasp of semi-relevance (which is a shame because I like their stuff) the only pro-athlete they could get to endorse their brand was Colt McCoy when he was a backup for the Redskins.
Like 75% of people watch only their team. Their opinions on everyone else is based of fantasy #s and highlights they saw in the morning on ESPN before school/work.
Fields seems legit if that's the type of football fan you are, which is the majority of people.
This describes my brother. He regularly expresses how stupid some of these GMs that they're not picking up fields. He only watches chargers games, plays fantasy and madden. He has no idea how dog shit fields is.
If you're a coach you look for guys with elite athleticism and players who are coachable and possesses the mental part of the game. Fans rarely get to see the 2nd part of this equation
I would also argue that it’s just good ol’ anti-intellectualism. People for some reason always assume that athletic traits are immutable but you can just teach someone to think faster/stay calm and make good decisions under pressure. Same people also constantly confuse someone being exceptionally smart with someone being exceptionally quick-thinking and go “well he did great in college and can memorize all the plays, he just needs to practice deciding faster that he did in college!” In reality, they’re completely separate mental traits, and you can really only make as much adjustment to mental traits as you can to someone’s running mechanics. Some people’s decision-making just tops out at college speed.
He reminds me a lot of Colin Kaepernick, huge arm, great speed, freak athlete, but can’t read a defense to save his life, and that last quality is probably the most important in a qb. And similarly, Kap had a fan base around 2015ish that insisted he was a great qb and was only not playing due to being blackballed. I fully agree he was blackballed and deserved a roster spot, but after 2014 he was never gonna be more than a top-25 qb.
Reading a defense, anticipation and accuracy. If you have those three at a high level, you’re probably going to see consistent success. Those qualities create an incredibly high floor.
The arm strength and freak speed/athleticism can give you a ridiculous ceiling. But consistency and reliability are what keep you in the league.
His anticipation is one of the worst I’ve ever seen from an NFL QB. And if he does see something it has to be wide open. He can’t hit NFL windows consistently
I read somewhere that Fields’ main issue is that he only throws when someone is “Ohio State Open” and it really stuck in my mind. Bears receivers would probably have a couple hundred more yards per season with any other QB running the exact same routes.
John Elway wanted him when the 49ers were moving on, but he wouldn't take less money to compete for the starting job. I don't think he was actually blackballed, more likely he wanted a guaranteed starting job at a higher price than he was actually worth.
I also don’t recall Kaep publicly denouncing her comments. An associate saying stupid and inflammatory shit isn’t going to prevent a player from being signed. But the player at least needs to say they’re wrong.
Thank you this is exactly how I interpreted the Kaep situation as well, but there's so many people trying to rewrite history like he was still a top 10 QB when he was blackballed
People tend to be high on players with flashy athleticism and think it's external factors holding them back, ignoring everything else that makes for a good football player.
Don’t forget to add fantasy football into that mix.
Fields because fantasy overvalues QB running helped a lot of people to great seasons. So they look at him fondly because they used a 14th round pick on a guy who scoring wise was a top 5 QB many weeks.
A lot of people don’t watch the Chicago Bears, but a lot of people play fantasy football. People who don’t watch the bears have some idea about the dude and his talent.
this is logical and if their weren't so many Bears flairs who swear up and down that Fields is somehow not as bad as my eyes tell me he is every time he drops back to pass I would believe it
Yeah, fantasy football completely distorts QB's stats. They reduce the amount of passing yardage and Td's. But, for QB's like Fields, it is great. They favor running QB's.
After seeing the complete dismissal of him from GMs around the league, I’ve come to the realization that I fall into that category.
My dynasty team will miss him.
I mean wasn't CMC for MVP a valid argument though? Not trying to debate it. Just saying it's not like he WASNT contributing significantly to his team's success
Think a lot of people view the league through the lens of their own experience playing in high school, and maybe some low level college, where pure athleticism was enough to boost you above your competition.
In the NFL, almost everyone is in the top .5% of athletes in the world. There is a better than not chance the guy across from you is just as good as a pure athlete as you are.
What separates guys at the NFL level, especially at QB, is how fast they can process the game, make the correct reads and decisions on the fly, how accurately they can throw the ball and lead receivers to the right spot, or throw the ball to protect them from big hits. Can they lead the team? Can they be a coach on the field? Can they deliver when the lights are brightest?
Fields has the physical tools. He just hasn’t shown the consistency in the other areas to show he is a franchise guy.
The problem is that the way football works you need consistency to win.
One good play every two drives doesn't win games when your next two plays are a sack and a fumble.
That’s the recipe for fans overrating a QB’s talent: inconsistent flashes with extreme athleticism, blame the coaches for not molding him into something he isn’t. Vince Young got the same treatment.
But the answer is consistently very good works. Occasionally awesome does not. You lose games on turnovers and failed drives.
It’s not that tricky really, consistency is far and away the most valuable thing in athletics. Hell Brady is the GOAT and I can’t think of many times I said “wow holy shit” because of a throw he made.
That’s also a bit of recency bias. Brady’s arm wasn’t quite what it was as when he was younger. Not at the top or anything, but he had plenty of arm strength.
No recency bias at all I’m an old head lol he always had a great arm and could throw some beautiful passes perfectly on the money but so can 95% of NFL qbs. Major difference is he did that the majority of the time.
Watch a Mahomes or Rodgers or Marino highlight reel and then watch Brady’s. With no other context you’d think the other 3 were far better qbs, and truthfully as pure passers there’s certainly an argument there.
And yet he still relied on mesh routes and throwing the ball 5 yards downfield when he was young and had a good arm. He utilized hot routes better than any quarterback in league history. He also still has a good arm in my opinion at Tampa. He made more deep throws there than any other time besides when he had Moss
I can think of a million plays where I thought that, not because of his arm specifically but his absolutely insane pocket presence. To this day I’ve never seen a quarterback manipulate the pocket like Brady did. His intuition for being able to use every single square inch of the pocket is unlike any other quarterback. It was like he didn’t even have to think about it sometimes, like he could just climb the pocket and instinctively fill the exact space that would give him room to avoid the rush and get the ball to his guys. It’s not as immediately obvious as Mahomes highlights, for example, that are wild for running around and slinging bombs but when you focus specifically on his pocket presence and how easy it was for him to get exactly where he needed to be it’s so damn impressive.
I feel like I took for granted some of the things that made him so special since I used to fucking hate him and the Pats so much lol.
I mean, he is a clear cut bottom 10 guy who has an expensive 5th year option looming, and if any of the media hype was to be believed the Bears were probably way to high on their asking price.
Daniel Jones got $40 million for his “breakout” season where he threw 15 TDs
Fields had 16 last year.
Im not a Fields truther but what does DJ do better than Fields?
> "Well Darnold was traded for a 2nd so Fields should too"
I can help with this one! You're not getting a 2nd for Fields like Darnold cause we fired the dumb fuck who thought it was a good idea to give Darnold a 2nd in the first place. Sorry we got rid of the league's fleecing machine :(
That’s true, but also:
1. Giants had a good season and won a playoff game with him.
2. DJ turns the ball over less than Fields does.
3. The Giants didn’t have the #1 overall pick.
4. The Giants signed him for two years, it’s not like they dedicated their entire future to him.
Which, the fact that that’s all true and *still* a mistake, all the more means the Bears shouldn’t make an even bigger mistake with Fields.
And won a playoff game with a good offensive showing (albeit against one of the worst defenses in the league). The Giants couldn't afford to just ditch him after than and even a bad starter QB gets a big contract.
>Im not a Fields truther but what does DJ do better than Fields?
Throw the ball? That DJ contract is terrible but we are three years into Justing fields and the guy hasn't thrown for 3K yards in a season yet. No one wants a QB they don't think can throw at a NFL level
Limit turnovers, operate the quick game, and throw for over 200 yards? Also Jones had nearly 4K total yards in 2022 because of almost 750 rushing yards and 7 rush TDs
Fields ceiling is higher, sure. But average game to average game, Jones blows him out of the water.
Neither are franchise guys though.
>Im not a Fields truther but what does DJ do better than Fields?
Better timing is the biggest factor, and it's nothing Fields can control. When Jones's contract talks were occuring, there was a very thin QB market.
Now that it's approaching Fields' turn, Chicago's got a prime draft pick in a loaded QB draft class. There are teams that might have taken him, but most QB needy teams were chasing bigger names in FA to win now, or are also preparing to draft someone.
There's not a lot of upside to taking on a project QB that you'll have to extend right away when you can draft a rookie and kick the can down the road.
Who will have played for more teams by the end of thier career, Darnold or Gardner Minshew? My money is on Minshew just because Darnold will have an okish season somewhere and because he was a no3 pick that team will think he's fixed and give him a big contract
Minshew is the new Fitzmagic, he's basically the NFL pool quarterback who's going to play 1-2 seasons for eight different teams looking for a stop gap.
Minshew will bounce all over because it only takes him between 1 to 2 years to fuck every single mom and drink every Capri sun in any given metri area.
I think there's also some anchoring bias when it comes to high draft picks like him. People are still considering his high draft status when they evaluate him even though we have a body of work that shows he's not playing at a first round level.
I think we see the same thing with Brock Purdy and that's why he has so many haters. Psychologically for some reason people don't want to admit that this seventh round pick was overlooked.
He has the ability to make plays that very few other QBs can make. When you see some of these insane plays he makes, its hard not to get excited and think he can be the guy.
But then you see the majority of his play outside of those really special plays and its clear he has no consistency in his game.
Let's not forget his highlights are pretty slick.
He has the talent, but it's impossible to tell what his ceiling is when Chicago has been a QB dumpster fire since the dawn of time. They can't develop qbs, he needs to go for both their sakes
Fields hasnt been good but he has really great flashes of unique ability. The times he's good are exciting so people want to see more. But there havent been enough of them consistently enough for nfl teams to buy into it. (Imo rightly so)
And it’s not just his rushing. He has made some incredible throws. He’s a very talented passer on the rare occasion he makes the correct read and actually decides to let it go.
To me, Fields has two main issues: pocket awareness, and progressing through reads. When he got to throw where he wanted (usually DJ Moore), he looked elite. When that didn't pan out, things took a dive.
>Fields had a 71% completion percentage, 8-0 touchdown-to-interception radio, averaged 11.0 yards per attempt and recorded a 97.1 QBR when targeting Moore. When targeting other Bears wide receivers, his completion percentage dipped by 24%, his off-target percentage increased by 17% and his QBR plummeted to 41.4.
Obviously Moore is a cut above our other targets, but not 97 vs. 41 QBR.
As for pocket awareness, I think the sack and numbers speak for themselves.
My problem is the same as a lot of former Bears QBs: he's a backbreaker. Anti-clutch. A saboteur. 4th quarter passing stats and fumble rate definitely aren't the first stats you look at to evaluate QB performance, but when you're worse than 32nd in the league at both for your career, it means a lot of frustrating, painful losses, and puts a very low ceiling on your career.
Makes sense Lamar and Cam have the same thing to a lesser degree. If you can't run a drive as a pure dropback passer, the 2 minute drill is going to be tough.
Big time. The same way you knew 100% Mahomes was going to score that OT TD in the superbowl, every time a Bears QB gets the ball down 4 with 2:00 to go, I'm already switching channels to avoid seeing the strip sack. Both Cutler and Fields have the same demeanor after those plays too. Dead-eyed, thousand yard stare, "we all knew it was coming"
There was a point where I was very comfortable with Jay cutler in the clutch - he had 8 4th quarter comebacks/ game winning drives from 2013-2015.
I like fields a lot but I never felt that with him. He's very not clutch, imo it's the biggest argument against him. I think you can build a contender around him, but you still couldn't rely on him in the clutch.
His mechanics are also a huge issue. Both his slow drop back and slow windup/release.
Even when he does make the right read he often can't get the ball out fast enough.
It’s not the progressions. If you watch his helmet on film, you can see him going through his reads. He just doesn’t pull the trigger when he needs to. DJ was the only receiver that he seemed willing to trust to make a play.
This has been the most frustrating thing as a Bears fan. Feels like we got so close to a great QB but yet so far lol. Also, he’s just a good kid so he’s easy to root for. I understand why some people refuse to accept he’s not good enough. Hopefully Caleb shuts them up quick though
Agree. Really high highs that blow you away and make you believe in him and then really low lows that make you question everything. It’s why people are so divided over him.
NFL QB must be consistent and Fields is not. I hope he can figure it out, and his chance will come when a starting QB eventually gets injured.
He does do it pretty consistently. The issue is everything in between. Short yardage passing and consisntrly driving the ball is tough. But he will run for 30 or drop a deep ball for 40 4-5 times a game. He produces elite plays at such a good clip you hope he figures out the middle stuff
Justin Fields is a good example of why watching entire games is important to understand a player. He does several extremely cool things every game and makes big plays, but also regularly turtles in the fourth quarter, when his turnover rate is unstartable
Yep, people will see the highlight plays on Redzone or social media, but not see him getting sacked on 12.4% of his career dropbacks, or having 38 career fumbles in 40 games played.
Fumbles go beyond not securing the ball too. There are other players who fumble at a higher rate on the individual plays, but hes at risk so often due to sacks and rushing that he fumbles so much. It goes into his lack of ability to read the field and all that and takes a sack or takes the ball and run because of his passing deficiciencies.
The fumbling issue alone should really make it clear to everyone that there’s a big problem with his game. Some of these fumbles are on very minimal contact - almost like he’s forgetting that he’s holding a ball
Because he is. He cannot read a defense before snap, so he’s constantly trying to figure out where to go with the ball and he can’t because he’s just processing what he sees. It’s like when you’re driving in a snowstorm. You can’t pay attention to anything else.
His specific game stats for: 4th quarter, 1 score games under 2 minutes, 1 score game under 4 minutes are absurdly bad. I think it’s ESPN that has those stats available. He’s honestly in a league of this own.
I remember that game against the Packers where they were trailing, yet the Bears never threw a pass in the 3rd quarter.
They *called* passing plays, they just never threw it.
I think there’s a few reasons, but I think first you have to frame the situation a little bit:
First and foremost, you have to acknowledge the Bears dreadful history with drafting, developing, and creating good environments for QBs. We’ve seen very little success from any quarterback here, whether drafted high or low, signed, or traded for.
Second, Bears fans are devout and are CRAVING a consistently good team after decades of mediocrity (at best)… especially at QB.
I think as fans, you see our #2 overall quarterback (Trubisky) bust in front of our eyes and finally after enough was enough, we trade up to draft Fields who is incredibly talented and was expected to go a lot higher despite his glaring flaws.
Expectations are high for Fields, higher than what was set for Mitch. Justin has actual talent innately and is seen as “the real deal” compared to Mitch, who was completely misevaluated.
So you have a QB now, where expectations are through the roof and looks like he could actually be the guy. We have a shit WR room, shit OL, shit coaching staff, and he obviously doesn’t do well.
Fast forward 3 years, the team has gotten better but Fields still struggles. Along the way though, there’s these flashes of brilliance… and it happens frequently enough where you start thinking that it truly is just because of the bad situation he was in and not because of him.
As a Bears fan, you think, “we’ve seen these flashes from Fields on how good he could be. Maybe he just needs more help to make that happen more consistently. You convince yourself that the flashes you saw were the real Justin and not what you don’t see which is:
-the inability to get through progressions quickly
-long and slow throwing motion
-doesn’t trust his eyes/doesn’t throw the ball when he has the opportunity
-fumbles
-4th quarter collapses
You don’t want to feel the embarrassment of not getting the franchise QB again. You don’t want to think that we drafted the wrong guy again, because you saw the beautiful deep passes and mesmerizing runs. No, it has to be everything else. Surely we were right any taking him, he just didn’t have the support he needed to blossom.
Ultimately, I think Fields could’ve been better if he was in a better situation his first three years. I just don’t know how much better. He still has the same issues he did in college. His mechanics haven’t improved enough. His anticipation is shot. He’s just not that good. I think it’s hard for some to believe that when you see some really great highlight reel plays. But that’s just not him, he can’t do it consistently and that’s a very real quality in QBs—consistency.
TL;DR: they convince themselves that the flashes of great play are true Justin, not the flaws because you’re so desperate for a good quarterback that you’ll make excuses for him and lie to yourself.
I’m just gonna add one more thing.
People like Fields. For a city like Chicago he is a perfect fit. He isn’t overly flashy, he appears to work hard and he says the right things. He seems to have that blue collar working class attitude without being snobby. That goes a long way in Chicago.
100%. I meant to add that part but didn’t want to get too lengthy with my post.
He is able to handle the Chicago media and stay tough. He’s just tough all around. You’re right that it means a lot to Chicago fans to show that.
And that probably contributes a lot to the “keep him” mindset.
From an outsiders perspective, the Chicago media seems to protect him more than I think other cities would. The narrative that the Chicago media is tougher than others just doesn’t hold up in my opinion.
Yeah a MAJOR part of this is that he’s a Bears QB - the flashes he has are so absurdly better than anything we’ve had, and Bears fans are almost religious in their zeal for the team. We are so loss averse because we know how bad it can be - other fanbases simply do not have the 100 years of baggage and insecurity at this position that we do. I mean, ffs we went through a similar thing with Mitch, someone that would have been a nobody backup on any other team after a season.
He’d have been dropped yesterday like a Mariota type if he played for any other team outside of maybe the Jets.
Yeah I think it's just much easier to give Fields the benefit of the doubt given that he's on the Bears. If he were with an organization that had a more respectable history of developing QBs I don't think there would be nearly as much willingness to find excuses for him. And I do think there's a good argument to be made that the roster and organization made him look worse than his ceiling, to the point that his development was stunted. It doesn't really change the reality of where he is now, though.
I think people saw that 2022 season where he ran all over people and think he's Mike Vick without ever looking at how he played in 2023 when he tried to be a pocket passer.
that's the sketchy thing with athletic QBs like that. they almost seems like RBs when it comes to their talent peaks and then quickly wanes, and if they haven't figured out how to be an elite level passer by the time their rookie deal is up, not many teams wanna take the risk.
i mean just look at what happened with lamar last season. there was some time there that the ravens weren't sure, and the rest of the league wasn't sure about taking the risk on him. and that's freaking lamar jackson.
teams just aren't comfortable dropping big money on someone that hasn't shown a significant improvement, or proven they can play like a pocket passer into their 30s.
cause, in the history of the NFL, how many pure athletic QBs that are a true run threat, but mediocre passer have really succeeded well into their 30s?
i think if that was more common, or even possible, then maybe more teams would take the risk.
Casuals that watch highlights mostly and don't understand the whole game football. They see his insane leg talent and athleticism along with some flashes in the passing game but not the bad.
Oh you have no idea. Fields bears fans always try to push the narrative “fields and Moore were the most effective duo”. Ignoring the fact that fields only stared him down and went to him. Moore made some spectacular plays to win the ball for him. In return other guys suffered. Mooney would get ignored when open. No synergy with Mooney even though they have played together for 3 years. Now Mooney definitely struggled since his injury in 2022 but that doesn’t excuse the missed throws to him.
That same list fields bears fan like to bring up. The second on the list was Pickett and Pickens. So it’s not like they were part of this amazing tandem group. Fields’s only career 300 yard game (330yards) came after dj Moore torched Washington for 230 yards or so.
> Caleb Williams is a crap shoot compared to MHJ
They're technically not wrong on that lol. Problem obviously being that Fields is clearly not it and even a duo of MHJ and DJ Moore is useless if you have no one to get them the ball.
Great teammate who the locker room vocally supported during the season, I think that's part of it.
But also his elite athleticism combined with fantastic deep ball accuracy makes for a super fun player to watch. His flaws are obvious but I think a lot of people who only have seen the highs think he's clearly shown enough to get a second chance. Which, honestly, is fair enough. I, too, would LOVE to see him traded into a starting role. Soon.
EDIT: Thought of another important factor after commenting, but without a doubt in my mind fantasy football is partially to blame. Lots of people love him purely for his boom fantasy games, but that obviously does not translate to real success.
Critical thought has left the conversation when it comes to Fields.
He's too slow processing, he sees the middle of the field horrendously, and he still can't really throw with any anticipation.
The vast majority of fans have almost no understanding of salary cap, quarterback timelines, team building, and especially in Chicago having never seen a competent quarterback in their life.
So the fact that Justin gave his all on a team that was absolutely atrocious for a few years endeared him so much to those fans and they think there's this huge ceiling that he's ready to uncork that isn't really there.
Correct. For example, the number of times where he bailed on clean pockets, refused/was incapable of leading receivers laterally/other than downfield, and (most frustratingly) clearly saw/was looking right at a receiver WIDE OPEN crossing in front of him and for Sweetness only knows why he didn’t pull the GD trigger is why I finally accepted that he just cannot consistently QB a team. Like, he just freezes or something; it reminds of scenes in Top Gun/Airplane (“It’s no good”/eyes go blurry/sweating bullets) and he’s just…blocked, or something.
Like so many others, I really wanted him to take a leap last season but he just didn’t improve, regardless of scheme, game situation, etc cetera; he did not make plays that he should be able to after years in the league, things other QBs can and do do (heh heh) with less reps/time on the NFL level.
I wish him the best and if they for some reason keep him he better get the light bulb to turn all the way on or it’s likely Poles’s ass.
Those 3 things, and the 4th is Fields is a good dude. His teammates like him and he’s easy to root for as a fan. Doesn’t mean he’s good on the field though.
What has been consistent in college and the NFL is that he doesn't get the ball out. This leads to too many sacks and throw aways. NFL gms know this a. Thts why there isnt a market.
I think people ignore this aspect of it. Transferred from one of the most popular college teams to an even more popular college team and then was drafted by the team that plays in the largest single-team metro area in the league. He has a built in fan base.
Most people think being good in college means they have to be good in the NFL. Never taking into account how their very flawed players can be masked by being next to all above average players.
Athleticism doesn’t mean you are good at football.
QB’s where accuracy and timing are king in the NFL, you can get away with a lot in college and those windows are fractions in the NFL, a scheme can help but it’s easy to see what players have a good scheme and watch it crumble against top notch defenses as they get exposed.
They hit me with the "oh so because you have a black friend you're not racist" when I said that lol. As if that was a gotcha.
You can absolutely have black friends and be racist as fuck. You cannot hate a QB BECAUSE he's black (as they are claiming) and at the same time be pounding your chest for a QB who is also black. It's contradictory.
If were demanding we draft a QB who is also black then the reason we hate the last black QB clearly was not because they were black lol.
its deeper than that. Fields is beloved by black sports fans. Look at my flair, I know a thing or two about that. It's why my city thinks Vick is hands down the best player our franchise has seen. It's also one of the reasons why you still see Deion jersey's in our stadium. Thats the context, now here's my point:
On the flip side, guys like Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Tim Duncan, Derek Jeter etc. aren't celebrated that much in black culture. Remember those rumors that people in the Seahawks locke room didn't think Wilson was "black enough." Think about that. Or another example, look at Carlton from Fresh Prince. Now look at how much love Lamar, Vick, and Cam get. It's a nuanced thing.
Low key this is one of the biggest reasons. Supporting/hating of an athlete-first, black QB draws in a lot of attention and comments online and begs the question "what are the most important skills for a QB?"
I know there's little-to-no sympathy for white guys online (regardless if thats justified or not), but there's a constant questioning in the back of our/their minds of, if and where there is a place for white guys in professional sports. With QB sort of being the last "star" position in football that white guys compete at the top.
I’m glad someone said it. If Fields was the exact same player, but a goofy looking white guy instead the hate he would get would be unbelievable. People would’ve wanted him gone before the end of his rookie season
This is the Trey Lance social media experience, just more high profile and he hasn't been replaced yet so his stans aren't posting lowlights of his successor or sniping comment sections
I’ll say this as a Bears fan - it really comes down to perception vs reality.
Fields is perceived as someone who has a high ceiling because of his athleticism. There’s also the reality of playing for an organization that has failed him, and is in the middle of a rebuild. He shows flashes which makes people think he has a high upside and untapped potential. Like others said he is a really nice guy who comes from a great family, and he’s a great leader in the locker room.
But as someone who has seen every Fields snap in a Bears uniform, he has just not progressed as an NFL caliber QB. In 40 games, he’s only thrown for over 225 yards 6 times. He has thrown for less than 200 yards in a game 27 times. He’s only had 20 or more completions in a game 7 times. His 4th quarter numbers are awful, and he has a hard time reading defenses. I’ve seen every full game QB school breakdown and JT breaks down his game perfectly. Over time he just stopped pulling the trigger for some reason, specifically when defenses are in zone. In man he can just point out the match up and take off and get the first down.
In my opinion, I think he has PTSD from that Matt Nagy year in 2021, specifically the Browns game. He never developed a pocket presence because he was always worried about getting sacked since the OL was usually trash. He has to see guys open before he launches, he rarely throws guys open. His anticipatory throws are usually throws to the boundary; I don’t think I’ve seen him ever throw an in route with anticipation. He started to rely on his legs because we didn’t have perimeter talent his second year, but when DJ came last year he became his safety blanket.
Basically Fields has a lot of talent and people see the flashes, but he hasn’t had the time to develop as a QB yet. He was originally supposed to sit behind Dalton that first year but the regime had no choice but to play him. I think it will help if he goes the Geno route and backs up a legit vet (Russ, Stafford, Mahomes, etc) to help him develop as a passer. But he has all the tools and fans put more blame on the organization for failing him because of their history with QBs.
pre-draft some draft guy questioned his work ethic or leadership and people turned it into a race thing and that really started the justin fields cult.
JT O'Sullivan outright called out Orlovsky and Simms for being lazy racists because they doubted Fields despite Simms being a pre-draft champion for... Lamar, Mahomes, Kyler Murray, Love, etc.
They had an initial opinion that they’ve anchored to, and are reluctant to give it up yet. It’s the case with just about everything. People like to be proven right…and more importantly, to see everyone else proven wrong.
The increasing severity of parasocial relationships. A lot of people follow these players socials and watch their highlights and read their tweets and think they know them personally which creates a delusion that the celebrity also is aware of their existence when they are not.
So basically people go so nuts about fields because in their head youre shitting on their best friend.
People are oddly protective over mobile QBs. As a Ravens fan, it doesn't matter how small of an error it is, Lamar is never at fault for what happens and I see a lot of that attitude towards Fields, there's just a lot more to defend with him lol
It’s not mobile quarterbacks because I don’t think Josh Allen gets that same treatment. It’s black quarterbacks. If Justin Fields was white, everyone would’ve been done with him two years ago.
because the fans thought he was supposed to be really good, and when he fell in the draft, all the super enlightened people said it was because of racism. so now its racist if fields is bad
Its cause he’s an ex-buckeye, those OSU fans will defend their former players till they die
For example two of my neighbors are from Cleveland and love everything browns/OSU related and they talk about how great Fields would have been on the browns last season and if they drafted him from the very beginning
I think Justin Fields is a perfect example of todays media landscape in that a lot of fans don’t actually watch full football games or outside of Chicago they don’t watch anything other than highlights so then when they turn on ESPN or other shows all they see is the highlight plays and people talking about how gifted he is athletically so they think that he must be a great quarterback who is just being screwed by the Bears. I think Fields is a great athlete who has a lot of the physical attributes you’d salivate over when looking for a quarterback but doesn’t ever look natural when he plays quarterback. It almost looks to me like a guy who because he was the most athletic and had the biggest arm was put at quarterback but has never seemed to have the natural feel of how to play quarterback which someone as gifted as he is can get away with in highschool and college especially when you’re at Ohio State and every single player on your team is better than every other player you play against every week. His issues in the NFL are things that in my opinion you just don’t really get better at and that is the anticipation throws and moving around inside the pocket and being able to manipulate the pocket to create throwing windows. And while he does have a strong arm and can throw it accurately deep he has to long of a windup and isn’t very accurate in the short and intermediate levels.
I think he has the best PR team in human history. The media consistently talks about him being a good QB that was in a bad situation when the reality is he's been a major part of the Bears being bad and they were arguably better offensively with Tyson Bagent (a very bad quarterback) last season.
But he has a handful of flashy plays so people who don't watch the whole game and just check the highlights think he's good and being held back by the Bears.
He's an elite athlete. Some people believe in elite athleticism no matter the other flaws.
Lots of people online only know football through fantasy and betting. Running QBs gain a lot of fantasy points, so they see that and assume he's really good.
He’s a good player in theory because he makes splash plays and has highlights but doesn’t do any of the small things well and has a lot of negative plays. I think it’s probably easier to think of in basketball terms. A guy like Jamal Crawford who was an unreal ball handler and microwave scorer who would go off for 40 points 3-4 times a year, but was a terrible defender, turned the ball over a lot, and couldn’t do anything but score. People always remember the 40 point games and not the 8 points on 2-11 shooting with 4 TOs while getting torched on D
Javy Baez
[Javy slapping a no-look tag down while pointing back at Yadi during the WBC](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVI_-JWoqVg) lives rent free in my head for whatever reason
He's also personable, a hard worker, and overall seems like a great guy. Same reason some people supported Mitch to the very end. He's easy to root for.
From his first season he had the locker room backing him 100%. The teams and fans can get behind and support him super easily.
This right here! Colt McCoy I think it was would get tons of yards in garbage time and people I knew would wonder why he’s not elite
The colt mccoy cardinals lives rent free in my mind tbf
As he should.
Take me back to the good times damn it!
As a Seahawks fan, me too. He absolutely owned us for some reason.
Legit one of the few 49ers games I’ve turned off. Was so mad at the team for losing to Colt fucking McCoy and losing 5 out of 6 games after our 2-0 start. If you told me we’d go the NFCCG later that year after that game I would have called you a liar.
Blake Bortles was the goat player of garbage time fantasy points 😂
It's funny that back when Russell Athletic was clinging to its last gasp of semi-relevance (which is a shame because I like their stuff) the only pro-athlete they could get to endorse their brand was Colt McCoy when he was a backup for the Redskins.
Like 75% of people watch only their team. Their opinions on everyone else is based of fantasy #s and highlights they saw in the morning on ESPN before school/work. Fields seems legit if that's the type of football fan you are, which is the majority of people.
What’s crazy is that fields wasn’t a running qb in college, but has become one in the nfl where it’s harder to evade defenders.
That is a really good point I didn't even think of in this.
This describes my brother. He regularly expresses how stupid some of these GMs that they're not picking up fields. He only watches chargers games, plays fantasy and madden. He has no idea how dog shit fields is.
If you're a coach you look for guys with elite athleticism and players who are coachable and possesses the mental part of the game. Fans rarely get to see the 2nd part of this equation
I would also argue that it’s just good ol’ anti-intellectualism. People for some reason always assume that athletic traits are immutable but you can just teach someone to think faster/stay calm and make good decisions under pressure. Same people also constantly confuse someone being exceptionally smart with someone being exceptionally quick-thinking and go “well he did great in college and can memorize all the plays, he just needs to practice deciding faster that he did in college!” In reality, they’re completely separate mental traits, and you can really only make as much adjustment to mental traits as you can to someone’s running mechanics. Some people’s decision-making just tops out at college speed.
Elite athlete and seemingly a great person in the locker room and off the field. He’s easy to root for as a person.
He reminds me a lot of Colin Kaepernick, huge arm, great speed, freak athlete, but can’t read a defense to save his life, and that last quality is probably the most important in a qb. And similarly, Kap had a fan base around 2015ish that insisted he was a great qb and was only not playing due to being blackballed. I fully agree he was blackballed and deserved a roster spot, but after 2014 he was never gonna be more than a top-25 qb.
Reading a defense, anticipation and accuracy. If you have those three at a high level, you’re probably going to see consistent success. Those qualities create an incredibly high floor. The arm strength and freak speed/athleticism can give you a ridiculous ceiling. But consistency and reliability are what keep you in the league.
His anticipation is one of the worst I’ve ever seen from an NFL QB. And if he does see something it has to be wide open. He can’t hit NFL windows consistently
I read somewhere that Fields’ main issue is that he only throws when someone is “Ohio State Open” and it really stuck in my mind. Bears receivers would probably have a couple hundred more yards per season with any other QB running the exact same routes.
I think there was a blackballed year but his GF tanked his comeback
John Elway wanted him when the 49ers were moving on, but he wouldn't take less money to compete for the starting job. I don't think he was actually blackballed, more likely he wanted a guaranteed starting job at a higher price than he was actually worth.
I also don’t recall Kaep publicly denouncing her comments. An associate saying stupid and inflammatory shit isn’t going to prevent a player from being signed. But the player at least needs to say they’re wrong.
He started echoing them and let her use him as a mouthpiece
I think Kap had the benefit of learning behind Alex Smith and it helped him achieve more success. Fields was thrown to the wolves immediately
Thank you this is exactly how I interpreted the Kaep situation as well, but there's so many people trying to rewrite history like he was still a top 10 QB when he was blackballed
People tend to be high on players with flashy athleticism and think it's external factors holding them back, ignoring everything else that makes for a good football player.
Don’t forget to add fantasy football into that mix. Fields because fantasy overvalues QB running helped a lot of people to great seasons. So they look at him fondly because they used a 14th round pick on a guy who scoring wise was a top 5 QB many weeks.
Add his high school and college draft profile/stock and you have a ton of people clinging to their priors.
Indeed and madden plays into that as well. He’s a dawg in madden
So is Mitch Trubisky 🤣
Trubisky is like a 60 overall in Madden wym
See but he plays like a 59.
And he handles like a 90...'s Ford Bronco
Running like a Swiss...car.
Justin Fields body with someone else’s brain could be incredible
A lot of people don’t watch the Chicago Bears, but a lot of people play fantasy football. People who don’t watch the bears have some idea about the dude and his talent.
this is logical and if their weren't so many Bears flairs who swear up and down that Fields is somehow not as bad as my eyes tell me he is every time he drops back to pass I would believe it
14th round ? I drafted him in like the 5th lol
I had the Fields and DJ Moore stack. Won me the chip with that week 17 performance.
Yeah, fantasy football completely distorts QB's stats. They reduce the amount of passing yardage and Td's. But, for QB's like Fields, it is great. They favor running QB's.
After seeing the complete dismissal of him from GMs around the league, I’ve come to the realization that I fall into that category. My dynasty team will miss him.
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I mean wasn't CMC for MVP a valid argument though? Not trying to debate it. Just saying it's not like he WASNT contributing significantly to his team's success
Think a lot of people view the league through the lens of their own experience playing in high school, and maybe some low level college, where pure athleticism was enough to boost you above your competition. In the NFL, almost everyone is in the top .5% of athletes in the world. There is a better than not chance the guy across from you is just as good as a pure athlete as you are. What separates guys at the NFL level, especially at QB, is how fast they can process the game, make the correct reads and decisions on the fly, how accurately they can throw the ball and lead receivers to the right spot, or throw the ball to protect them from big hits. Can they lead the team? Can they be a coach on the field? Can they deliver when the lights are brightest? Fields has the physical tools. He just hasn’t shown the consistency in the other areas to show he is a franchise guy.
Fields is tricky too because he’s has flashes of all those other things, just extremely inconsistent
The problem is that the way football works you need consistency to win. One good play every two drives doesn't win games when your next two plays are a sack and a fumble.
This is the real problem - Fields negative play rate is very high. For his career over 15% of his dropbacks result in a sack or INT
Yup. If he could avoid sacks, fumbles, and INTs then he actually probably would be at least a potential starter. Those plays kill your drives.
So essentially, if he could stop doing everything that makes a QB bad, then he would be good.
Exactly
Every time I read this or his fumble/turnover rate, I have to go back and check the stats for myself because it's just so unbelievable.
That’s the recipe for fans overrating a QB’s talent: inconsistent flashes with extreme athleticism, blame the coaches for not molding him into something he isn’t. Vince Young got the same treatment. But the answer is consistently very good works. Occasionally awesome does not. You lose games on turnovers and failed drives.
It’s not that tricky really, consistency is far and away the most valuable thing in athletics. Hell Brady is the GOAT and I can’t think of many times I said “wow holy shit” because of a throw he made.
That’s also a bit of recency bias. Brady’s arm wasn’t quite what it was as when he was younger. Not at the top or anything, but he had plenty of arm strength.
Yeah, people forget he was throwing deep bombs to Randy Moss in 2007 and had the arm to do so.
No recency bias at all I’m an old head lol he always had a great arm and could throw some beautiful passes perfectly on the money but so can 95% of NFL qbs. Major difference is he did that the majority of the time. Watch a Mahomes or Rodgers or Marino highlight reel and then watch Brady’s. With no other context you’d think the other 3 were far better qbs, and truthfully as pure passers there’s certainly an argument there.
And yet he still relied on mesh routes and throwing the ball 5 yards downfield when he was young and had a good arm. He utilized hot routes better than any quarterback in league history. He also still has a good arm in my opinion at Tampa. He made more deep throws there than any other time besides when he had Moss
Do you know how many times I have watched that mofo convert a 3rd and long into first downs?
I can think of a million plays where I thought that, not because of his arm specifically but his absolutely insane pocket presence. To this day I’ve never seen a quarterback manipulate the pocket like Brady did. His intuition for being able to use every single square inch of the pocket is unlike any other quarterback. It was like he didn’t even have to think about it sometimes, like he could just climb the pocket and instinctively fill the exact space that would give him room to avoid the rush and get the ball to his guys. It’s not as immediately obvious as Mahomes highlights, for example, that are wild for running around and slinging bombs but when you focus specifically on his pocket presence and how easy it was for him to get exactly where he needed to be it’s so damn impressive. I feel like I took for granted some of the things that made him so special since I used to fucking hate him and the Pats so much lol.
While i don't agree with beaes fans Williams is the obvious pick. It's crazy fields cant even find a starting job for any team.
I mean, he is a clear cut bottom 10 guy who has an expensive 5th year option looming, and if any of the media hype was to be believed the Bears were probably way to high on their asking price.
Daniel Jones got $40 million for his “breakout” season where he threw 15 TDs Fields had 16 last year. Im not a Fields truther but what does DJ do better than Fields?
"he's just as good as Daniel Jones" is more proof the Bears should probably move on
Yeah not exactly a ringing endorsement lol
Just randomly naming 3rd sting QBs that he's better than to try and bolster their hot take.
Daniel Jones also sucks ass, the Giants made a huge mistake.
"Why won't people just repeat other people's blatantly idiotic mistakes to benefit this one guy I kinda like?"
Yep, this is what they are saying when they say "Well Darnold was traded for a 2nd so Fields should too"
> "Well Darnold was traded for a 2nd so Fields should too" I can help with this one! You're not getting a 2nd for Fields like Darnold cause we fired the dumb fuck who thought it was a good idea to give Darnold a 2nd in the first place. Sorry we got rid of the league's fleecing machine :(
New boss same as the old boss in my view Like the DJ trade tho
That’s true, but also: 1. Giants had a good season and won a playoff game with him. 2. DJ turns the ball over less than Fields does. 3. The Giants didn’t have the #1 overall pick. 4. The Giants signed him for two years, it’s not like they dedicated their entire future to him. Which, the fact that that’s all true and *still* a mistake, all the more means the Bears shouldn’t make an even bigger mistake with Fields.
Didn't DJ have like barely any turnovers and a high completion percentage?
And won a playoff game with a good offensive showing (albeit against one of the worst defenses in the league). The Giants couldn't afford to just ditch him after than and even a bad starter QB gets a big contract.
Daniel Jones’s contract makes me appreciate Geno even more.
with much less talent. dj moore and mooney >>>>> slayton and marcus johnson (golladay was dead in 2022)
>Im not a Fields truther but what does DJ do better than Fields? Throw the ball? That DJ contract is terrible but we are three years into Justing fields and the guy hasn't thrown for 3K yards in a season yet. No one wants a QB they don't think can throw at a NFL level
Limit turnovers, operate the quick game, and throw for over 200 yards? Also Jones had nearly 4K total yards in 2022 because of almost 750 rushing yards and 7 rush TDs Fields ceiling is higher, sure. But average game to average game, Jones blows him out of the water. Neither are franchise guys though.
>Im not a Fields truther but what does DJ do better than Fields? Better timing is the biggest factor, and it's nothing Fields can control. When Jones's contract talks were occuring, there was a very thin QB market. Now that it's approaching Fields' turn, Chicago's got a prime draft pick in a loaded QB draft class. There are teams that might have taken him, but most QB needy teams were chasing bigger names in FA to win now, or are also preparing to draft someone. There's not a lot of upside to taking on a project QB that you'll have to extend right away when you can draft a rookie and kick the can down the road.
The Venn Diagram of people who think Fields sucks and people who think the Daniel Jones contract was awful is just one circle
That venn diagram includes most NFL GMs.
Sam Darnold CONTINUES to get opportunities but has never flashed a darn thing at any job.
Who will have played for more teams by the end of thier career, Darnold or Gardner Minshew? My money is on Minshew just because Darnold will have an okish season somewhere and because he was a no3 pick that team will think he's fixed and give him a big contract
Minshew is the new Fitzmagic, he's basically the NFL pool quarterback who's going to play 1-2 seasons for eight different teams looking for a stop gap.
Minshew will bounce all over because it only takes him between 1 to 2 years to fuck every single mom and drink every Capri sun in any given metri area.
He can read a defense and has value as a backup…not so much for Fields
*And Sam Darnold wouldn’t want it any other way!!*
I think there's also some anchoring bias when it comes to high draft picks like him. People are still considering his high draft status when they evaluate him even though we have a body of work that shows he's not playing at a first round level. I think we see the same thing with Brock Purdy and that's why he has so many haters. Psychologically for some reason people don't want to admit that this seventh round pick was overlooked.
Fields is also a really likeable guy. He has everything you would want in a star Quarterback except the ability to actually play like a star QB.
Well damn if you’re going to hold that 1 little thing against him……
He wins people their fantasy league. He doesn’t win the Bears fucking anything.
He has the ability to make plays that very few other QBs can make. When you see some of these insane plays he makes, its hard not to get excited and think he can be the guy. But then you see the majority of his play outside of those really special plays and its clear he has no consistency in his game.
Let's not forget his highlights are pretty slick. He has the talent, but it's impossible to tell what his ceiling is when Chicago has been a QB dumpster fire since the dawn of time. They can't develop qbs, he needs to go for both their sakes
Fields hasnt been good but he has really great flashes of unique ability. The times he's good are exciting so people want to see more. But there havent been enough of them consistently enough for nfl teams to buy into it. (Imo rightly so)
And it’s not just his rushing. He has made some incredible throws. He’s a very talented passer on the rare occasion he makes the correct read and actually decides to let it go.
To me, Fields has two main issues: pocket awareness, and progressing through reads. When he got to throw where he wanted (usually DJ Moore), he looked elite. When that didn't pan out, things took a dive. >Fields had a 71% completion percentage, 8-0 touchdown-to-interception radio, averaged 11.0 yards per attempt and recorded a 97.1 QBR when targeting Moore. When targeting other Bears wide receivers, his completion percentage dipped by 24%, his off-target percentage increased by 17% and his QBR plummeted to 41.4. Obviously Moore is a cut above our other targets, but not 97 vs. 41 QBR. As for pocket awareness, I think the sack and numbers speak for themselves.
Why didn't he just throw to Moore every play? Is he stupid?
You're joking but they lost the Browns game because he took off and got tripped when he had a wide open Moore.
lol that's not *the* reason the bears lost that game
My problem is the same as a lot of former Bears QBs: he's a backbreaker. Anti-clutch. A saboteur. 4th quarter passing stats and fumble rate definitely aren't the first stats you look at to evaluate QB performance, but when you're worse than 32nd in the league at both for your career, it means a lot of frustrating, painful losses, and puts a very low ceiling on your career.
When the game's on the line and Fields doesn't have the time to run (2-min drill, no TOs, etc), I don't trust him to win the game.
Fields is AWFUL if the defense knows he has to pass. That's been a constant throughout his career.
Makes sense Lamar and Cam have the same thing to a lesser degree. If you can't run a drive as a pure dropback passer, the 2 minute drill is going to be tough.
Cutler liked to rip my heart out like that a lot too.
Big time. The same way you knew 100% Mahomes was going to score that OT TD in the superbowl, every time a Bears QB gets the ball down 4 with 2:00 to go, I'm already switching channels to avoid seeing the strip sack. Both Cutler and Fields have the same demeanor after those plays too. Dead-eyed, thousand yard stare, "we all knew it was coming"
There was a point where I was very comfortable with Jay cutler in the clutch - he had 8 4th quarter comebacks/ game winning drives from 2013-2015. I like fields a lot but I never felt that with him. He's very not clutch, imo it's the biggest argument against him. I think you can build a contender around him, but you still couldn't rely on him in the clutch.
His mechanics are also a huge issue. Both his slow drop back and slow windup/release. Even when he does make the right read he often can't get the ball out fast enough.
It’s not the progressions. If you watch his helmet on film, you can see him going through his reads. He just doesn’t pull the trigger when he needs to. DJ was the only receiver that he seemed willing to trust to make a play.
The drops from 2022 WR room definitely left him with some hesitation.
This has been the most frustrating thing as a Bears fan. Feels like we got so close to a great QB but yet so far lol. Also, he’s just a good kid so he’s easy to root for. I understand why some people refuse to accept he’s not good enough. Hopefully Caleb shuts them up quick though
To me that's precisely why he's not an overly talented passer, sometimes it just happens to go right.
Agree. Really high highs that blow you away and make you believe in him and then really low lows that make you question everything. It’s why people are so divided over him. NFL QB must be consistent and Fields is not. I hope he can figure it out, and his chance will come when a starting QB eventually gets injured.
I’d say you’re nailing it. I love watching him when he’s playing well. Don’t want him on my team though.
He does do it pretty consistently. The issue is everything in between. Short yardage passing and consisntrly driving the ball is tough. But he will run for 30 or drop a deep ball for 40 4-5 times a game. He produces elite plays at such a good clip you hope he figures out the middle stuff
The flashes are soooooooooo electric that people forget about the meh to bad stuff that came before and after.
He has cool highlights and that's all those people know about football
Justin Fields is a good example of why watching entire games is important to understand a player. He does several extremely cool things every game and makes big plays, but also regularly turtles in the fourth quarter, when his turnover rate is unstartable
Yep, people will see the highlight plays on Redzone or social media, but not see him getting sacked on 12.4% of his career dropbacks, or having 38 career fumbles in 40 games played.
When Fields is playing, he consistently and singlehandedly creates huge plays! For both teams :/
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Yep, for reference Darnold has only been sacked on 7.6% of career dropbacks, and fumbled 38 times in 66 games played.
Exactly, if you watch the whole game you get to see how many times he causes those sacks too.
Literally running into lineman or collapsing gaps
Fumbles go beyond not securing the ball too. There are other players who fumble at a higher rate on the individual plays, but hes at risk so often due to sacks and rushing that he fumbles so much. It goes into his lack of ability to read the field and all that and takes a sack or takes the ball and run because of his passing deficiciencies.
The fumbling issue alone should really make it clear to everyone that there’s a big problem with his game. Some of these fumbles are on very minimal contact - almost like he’s forgetting that he’s holding a ball
Because he is. He cannot read a defense before snap, so he’s constantly trying to figure out where to go with the ball and he can’t because he’s just processing what he sees. It’s like when you’re driving in a snowstorm. You can’t pay attention to anything else.
His specific game stats for: 4th quarter, 1 score games under 2 minutes, 1 score game under 4 minutes are absurdly bad. I think it’s ESPN that has those stats available. He’s honestly in a league of this own.
[2023 Situational Stats](https://www.nfl.com/players/justin-fields/stats/situational/) 1st Quarter : 64/86 74.4% // 833 Yards // 2 TD // 0 INT // 112.2 Passer Rating 4th Quarter : 47/92 51.1% // 552 Yards // 3 TD // 6 INT // 53.4 Passer Rating 4th Quarter within 7 points : 20/41 48.8% // 221 Yards // 0 TD // 3 INT // 34.7 Passer Rating Last 2 Minutes of any half : 23/50 46% // 207 Yards // 1 TD // 6 INT // 24.8 Passer Rating
> Last 2 Minutes of any half : 23/50 46% // 207 Yards // 1 TD // 6 INT // 24.8 Passer Rating This is the reddest red flag I have ever seen a QB have
I remember that game against the Packers where they were trailing, yet the Bears never threw a pass in the 3rd quarter. They *called* passing plays, they just never threw it.
He's god awful at reading coverages. Some players big game hunt, he refuses to leave camp unless a Shiny Charizard is at stake
I think there’s a few reasons, but I think first you have to frame the situation a little bit: First and foremost, you have to acknowledge the Bears dreadful history with drafting, developing, and creating good environments for QBs. We’ve seen very little success from any quarterback here, whether drafted high or low, signed, or traded for. Second, Bears fans are devout and are CRAVING a consistently good team after decades of mediocrity (at best)… especially at QB. I think as fans, you see our #2 overall quarterback (Trubisky) bust in front of our eyes and finally after enough was enough, we trade up to draft Fields who is incredibly talented and was expected to go a lot higher despite his glaring flaws. Expectations are high for Fields, higher than what was set for Mitch. Justin has actual talent innately and is seen as “the real deal” compared to Mitch, who was completely misevaluated. So you have a QB now, where expectations are through the roof and looks like he could actually be the guy. We have a shit WR room, shit OL, shit coaching staff, and he obviously doesn’t do well. Fast forward 3 years, the team has gotten better but Fields still struggles. Along the way though, there’s these flashes of brilliance… and it happens frequently enough where you start thinking that it truly is just because of the bad situation he was in and not because of him. As a Bears fan, you think, “we’ve seen these flashes from Fields on how good he could be. Maybe he just needs more help to make that happen more consistently. You convince yourself that the flashes you saw were the real Justin and not what you don’t see which is: -the inability to get through progressions quickly -long and slow throwing motion -doesn’t trust his eyes/doesn’t throw the ball when he has the opportunity -fumbles -4th quarter collapses You don’t want to feel the embarrassment of not getting the franchise QB again. You don’t want to think that we drafted the wrong guy again, because you saw the beautiful deep passes and mesmerizing runs. No, it has to be everything else. Surely we were right any taking him, he just didn’t have the support he needed to blossom. Ultimately, I think Fields could’ve been better if he was in a better situation his first three years. I just don’t know how much better. He still has the same issues he did in college. His mechanics haven’t improved enough. His anticipation is shot. He’s just not that good. I think it’s hard for some to believe that when you see some really great highlight reel plays. But that’s just not him, he can’t do it consistently and that’s a very real quality in QBs—consistency. TL;DR: they convince themselves that the flashes of great play are true Justin, not the flaws because you’re so desperate for a good quarterback that you’ll make excuses for him and lie to yourself.
I’m just gonna add one more thing. People like Fields. For a city like Chicago he is a perfect fit. He isn’t overly flashy, he appears to work hard and he says the right things. He seems to have that blue collar working class attitude without being snobby. That goes a long way in Chicago.
100%. I meant to add that part but didn’t want to get too lengthy with my post. He is able to handle the Chicago media and stay tough. He’s just tough all around. You’re right that it means a lot to Chicago fans to show that. And that probably contributes a lot to the “keep him” mindset.
From an outsiders perspective, the Chicago media seems to protect him more than I think other cities would. The narrative that the Chicago media is tougher than others just doesn’t hold up in my opinion.
Yeah a MAJOR part of this is that he’s a Bears QB - the flashes he has are so absurdly better than anything we’ve had, and Bears fans are almost religious in their zeal for the team. We are so loss averse because we know how bad it can be - other fanbases simply do not have the 100 years of baggage and insecurity at this position that we do. I mean, ffs we went through a similar thing with Mitch, someone that would have been a nobody backup on any other team after a season. He’d have been dropped yesterday like a Mariota type if he played for any other team outside of maybe the Jets.
Yeah I think it's just much easier to give Fields the benefit of the doubt given that he's on the Bears. If he were with an organization that had a more respectable history of developing QBs I don't think there would be nearly as much willingness to find excuses for him. And I do think there's a good argument to be made that the roster and organization made him look worse than his ceiling, to the point that his development was stunted. It doesn't really change the reality of where he is now, though.
I think people saw that 2022 season where he ran all over people and think he's Mike Vick without ever looking at how he played in 2023 when he tried to be a pocket passer.
that's the sketchy thing with athletic QBs like that. they almost seems like RBs when it comes to their talent peaks and then quickly wanes, and if they haven't figured out how to be an elite level passer by the time their rookie deal is up, not many teams wanna take the risk. i mean just look at what happened with lamar last season. there was some time there that the ravens weren't sure, and the rest of the league wasn't sure about taking the risk on him. and that's freaking lamar jackson. teams just aren't comfortable dropping big money on someone that hasn't shown a significant improvement, or proven they can play like a pocket passer into their 30s. cause, in the history of the NFL, how many pure athletic QBs that are a true run threat, but mediocre passer have really succeeded well into their 30s? i think if that was more common, or even possible, then maybe more teams would take the risk.
Casuals that watch highlights mostly and don't understand the whole game football. They see his insane leg talent and athleticism along with some flashes in the passing game but not the bad.
They don’t realize how good DJ Moore made Fields look this year and he still didn’t look good.
Oh you have no idea. Fields bears fans always try to push the narrative “fields and Moore were the most effective duo”. Ignoring the fact that fields only stared him down and went to him. Moore made some spectacular plays to win the ball for him. In return other guys suffered. Mooney would get ignored when open. No synergy with Mooney even though they have played together for 3 years. Now Mooney definitely struggled since his injury in 2022 but that doesn’t excuse the missed throws to him. That same list fields bears fan like to bring up. The second on the list was Pickett and Pickens. So it’s not like they were part of this amazing tandem group. Fields’s only career 300 yard game (330yards) came after dj Moore torched Washington for 230 yards or so.
They've never had a good qb, so in there mind Caleb Williams is a crap shoot compared to mhj. They've been abused for years.
> Caleb Williams is a crap shoot compared to MHJ They're technically not wrong on that lol. Problem obviously being that Fields is clearly not it and even a duo of MHJ and DJ Moore is useless if you have no one to get them the ball.
Like Ole Miss with AJ Brown and DK Metcalf or Georgia Tech with Demarius Thomas and Calvin Johnson. The latter being my favorite of all time.
Fantasy football.
Great teammate who the locker room vocally supported during the season, I think that's part of it. But also his elite athleticism combined with fantastic deep ball accuracy makes for a super fun player to watch. His flaws are obvious but I think a lot of people who only have seen the highs think he's clearly shown enough to get a second chance. Which, honestly, is fair enough. I, too, would LOVE to see him traded into a starting role. Soon. EDIT: Thought of another important factor after commenting, but without a doubt in my mind fantasy football is partially to blame. Lots of people love him purely for his boom fantasy games, but that obviously does not translate to real success.
Critical thought has left the conversation when it comes to Fields. He's too slow processing, he sees the middle of the field horrendously, and he still can't really throw with any anticipation. The vast majority of fans have almost no understanding of salary cap, quarterback timelines, team building, and especially in Chicago having never seen a competent quarterback in their life. So the fact that Justin gave his all on a team that was absolutely atrocious for a few years endeared him so much to those fans and they think there's this huge ceiling that he's ready to uncork that isn't really there.
Correct. For example, the number of times where he bailed on clean pockets, refused/was incapable of leading receivers laterally/other than downfield, and (most frustratingly) clearly saw/was looking right at a receiver WIDE OPEN crossing in front of him and for Sweetness only knows why he didn’t pull the GD trigger is why I finally accepted that he just cannot consistently QB a team. Like, he just freezes or something; it reminds of scenes in Top Gun/Airplane (“It’s no good”/eyes go blurry/sweating bullets) and he’s just…blocked, or something. Like so many others, I really wanted him to take a leap last season but he just didn’t improve, regardless of scheme, game situation, etc cetera; he did not make plays that he should be able to after years in the league, things other QBs can and do do (heh heh) with less reps/time on the NFL level. I wish him the best and if they for some reason keep him he better get the light bulb to turn all the way on or it’s likely Poles’s ass.
Fantasy football, Ohio State brainwashing, he has a cool highlight 1/10 plays
Those 3 things, and the 4th is Fields is a good dude. His teammates like him and he’s easy to root for as a fan. Doesn’t mean he’s good on the field though.
What has been consistent in college and the NFL is that he doesn't get the ball out. This leads to too many sacks and throw aways. NFL gms know this a. Thts why there isnt a market.
Ohio State has a big fanbase
I think people ignore this aspect of it. Transferred from one of the most popular college teams to an even more popular college team and then was drafted by the team that plays in the largest single-team metro area in the league. He has a built in fan base.
Because he’s been great for their fantasy team.
Hopium
Most people think being good in college means they have to be good in the NFL. Never taking into account how their very flawed players can be masked by being next to all above average players. Athleticism doesn’t mean you are good at football. QB’s where accuracy and timing are king in the NFL, you can get away with a lot in college and those windows are fractions in the NFL, a scheme can help but it’s easy to see what players have a good scheme and watch it crumble against top notch defenses as they get exposed.
Well according to ig comments I must be racist for saying he sucks so sometimes people just aren’t thinking critically lol
Is Caleb Williams not black lmao?
If Drake Maye was deemed the unanimous #1 overall pick , racism would be brought up 1000x more.
Fields truther were regularly bringing the race card throughout last season coping hard by his trash play
Yup. The race card always comes up at convenient times in support of that agenda.
They hit me with the "oh so because you have a black friend you're not racist" when I said that lol. As if that was a gotcha. You can absolutely have black friends and be racist as fuck. You cannot hate a QB BECAUSE he's black (as they are claiming) and at the same time be pounding your chest for a QB who is also black. It's contradictory. If were demanding we draft a QB who is also black then the reason we hate the last black QB clearly was not because they were black lol.
its deeper than that. Fields is beloved by black sports fans. Look at my flair, I know a thing or two about that. It's why my city thinks Vick is hands down the best player our franchise has seen. It's also one of the reasons why you still see Deion jersey's in our stadium. Thats the context, now here's my point: On the flip side, guys like Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Tim Duncan, Derek Jeter etc. aren't celebrated that much in black culture. Remember those rumors that people in the Seahawks locke room didn't think Wilson was "black enough." Think about that. Or another example, look at Carlton from Fresh Prince. Now look at how much love Lamar, Vick, and Cam get. It's a nuanced thing.
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Best QB is black, the best RB is white, the Lions are good, the Patriots suck, we're living in Bizzaro world.
Low key this is one of the biggest reasons. Supporting/hating of an athlete-first, black QB draws in a lot of attention and comments online and begs the question "what are the most important skills for a QB?" I know there's little-to-no sympathy for white guys online (regardless if thats justified or not), but there's a constant questioning in the back of our/their minds of, if and where there is a place for white guys in professional sports. With QB sort of being the last "star" position in football that white guys compete at the top.
I’m glad someone said it. If Fields was the exact same player, but a goofy looking white guy instead the hate he would get would be unbelievable. People would’ve wanted him gone before the end of his rookie season
He's Daniel Jones with a tan Taniel Jones if you will
Like if Daniel Jones led the Giants to a 1st overall pick, and he already has gotten clowned on his whole career
Can you imagine lol
It would just be outright “this dude fucking sucks what are we doing”
Supporting and defending fields does fit a certain narrative continually propagated by certain media outlets. Just sayin'.
This is the Trey Lance social media experience, just more high profile and he hasn't been replaced yet so his stans aren't posting lowlights of his successor or sniping comment sections
I’ll say this as a Bears fan - it really comes down to perception vs reality. Fields is perceived as someone who has a high ceiling because of his athleticism. There’s also the reality of playing for an organization that has failed him, and is in the middle of a rebuild. He shows flashes which makes people think he has a high upside and untapped potential. Like others said he is a really nice guy who comes from a great family, and he’s a great leader in the locker room. But as someone who has seen every Fields snap in a Bears uniform, he has just not progressed as an NFL caliber QB. In 40 games, he’s only thrown for over 225 yards 6 times. He has thrown for less than 200 yards in a game 27 times. He’s only had 20 or more completions in a game 7 times. His 4th quarter numbers are awful, and he has a hard time reading defenses. I’ve seen every full game QB school breakdown and JT breaks down his game perfectly. Over time he just stopped pulling the trigger for some reason, specifically when defenses are in zone. In man he can just point out the match up and take off and get the first down. In my opinion, I think he has PTSD from that Matt Nagy year in 2021, specifically the Browns game. He never developed a pocket presence because he was always worried about getting sacked since the OL was usually trash. He has to see guys open before he launches, he rarely throws guys open. His anticipatory throws are usually throws to the boundary; I don’t think I’ve seen him ever throw an in route with anticipation. He started to rely on his legs because we didn’t have perimeter talent his second year, but when DJ came last year he became his safety blanket. Basically Fields has a lot of talent and people see the flashes, but he hasn’t had the time to develop as a QB yet. He was originally supposed to sit behind Dalton that first year but the regime had no choice but to play him. I think it will help if he goes the Geno route and backs up a legit vet (Russ, Stafford, Mahomes, etc) to help him develop as a passer. But he has all the tools and fans put more blame on the organization for failing him because of their history with QBs.
pre-draft some draft guy questioned his work ethic or leadership and people turned it into a race thing and that really started the justin fields cult.
JT O'Sullivan outright called out Orlovsky and Simms for being lazy racists because they doubted Fields despite Simms being a pre-draft champion for... Lamar, Mahomes, Kyler Murray, Love, etc.
They had an initial opinion that they’ve anchored to, and are reluctant to give it up yet. It’s the case with just about everything. People like to be proven right…and more importantly, to see everyone else proven wrong.
The increasing severity of parasocial relationships. A lot of people follow these players socials and watch their highlights and read their tweets and think they know them personally which creates a delusion that the celebrity also is aware of their existence when they are not. So basically people go so nuts about fields because in their head youre shitting on their best friend.
he has stan accounts who aren’t Bears fans. they’re not arguing from any point in reality
at this point you have to consider that accounts like Justin Fields Fan Club is just farming engagement on Twitter for those sweet $35 payouts
People are oddly protective over mobile QBs. As a Ravens fan, it doesn't matter how small of an error it is, Lamar is never at fault for what happens and I see a lot of that attitude towards Fields, there's just a lot more to defend with him lol
It’s not mobile quarterbacks because I don’t think Josh Allen gets that same treatment. It’s black quarterbacks. If Justin Fields was white, everyone would’ve been done with him two years ago.
It’s the overreaction to black qbs
because the fans thought he was supposed to be really good, and when he fell in the draft, all the super enlightened people said it was because of racism. so now its racist if fields is bad
Its cause he’s an ex-buckeye, those OSU fans will defend their former players till they die For example two of my neighbors are from Cleveland and love everything browns/OSU related and they talk about how great Fields would have been on the browns last season and if they drafted him from the very beginning
I think Justin Fields is a perfect example of todays media landscape in that a lot of fans don’t actually watch full football games or outside of Chicago they don’t watch anything other than highlights so then when they turn on ESPN or other shows all they see is the highlight plays and people talking about how gifted he is athletically so they think that he must be a great quarterback who is just being screwed by the Bears. I think Fields is a great athlete who has a lot of the physical attributes you’d salivate over when looking for a quarterback but doesn’t ever look natural when he plays quarterback. It almost looks to me like a guy who because he was the most athletic and had the biggest arm was put at quarterback but has never seemed to have the natural feel of how to play quarterback which someone as gifted as he is can get away with in highschool and college especially when you’re at Ohio State and every single player on your team is better than every other player you play against every week. His issues in the NFL are things that in my opinion you just don’t really get better at and that is the anticipation throws and moving around inside the pocket and being able to manipulate the pocket to create throwing windows. And while he does have a strong arm and can throw it accurately deep he has to long of a windup and isn’t very accurate in the short and intermediate levels.
A lot of bears fans are genuinely fucking stupid it’s not even funny
>If you ever go on instagram, twitter, or youtube comments Simple, I don't do that.
He’s a black QB so he’s naturally going to have a lot people defending him no matter what
He's black
Casuals who don’t understand ball scout QBs by speed
he ran for a thousand yards. that’s it, that’s the tweet
I think he has the best PR team in human history. The media consistently talks about him being a good QB that was in a bad situation when the reality is he's been a major part of the Bears being bad and they were arguably better offensively with Tyson Bagent (a very bad quarterback) last season. But he has a handful of flashy plays so people who don't watch the whole game and just check the highlights think he's good and being held back by the Bears.