Justin Fields has been benched by the Chicago Bears with a hip strain injury that will keep him from starting the season finale. As a result, his season is over in Chicago and his potential as the future of the Bears is still in doubt.
The debate around Justin Fields‘ performance in the 2022 season will be a hot topic debate for the entirety of the off-season. Fields, has been fantastic as a rusher, he winds up 63 yards short of the single-season NFL rushing record. But Fields’ passing has been below average.
According to Pro Football Focus, Justin Fields has been pressured a league-worst, 34.1 percent of the time. That is reflective of how bad the offensive line has been in 2022. The offensive line has been devastated by injuries with starters Larry Borom, Teven Jenkins, Lucas Patrick, and Cody Whitehair all missing time with injuries. Additionally, it’s been a ramshackle mixture of players playing out of position across the line.
That being said Justin Fields has been the worst QB in the NFL two key categories only he is responsible for, holding onto the ball too long which resulted in a sack, and missing at least one open receiver in his progression.
• Holding onto the ball for too long: On perfectly covered plays, Fields takes sacks at the highest rate in the league.
• Fields not finding open receivers: He has been the league’s worst quarterback on plays where at least one defender leaves a receiver open (0.17 EPA).
Fields holding onto the ball too long you can somewhat excuse because he can rely on his superior athletic ability and escapability to try and make a play.
But the biggest concern comes in the next statistic. Fields is the worst QB in the league at finding an open receiver. That is a reflective failure of Justin Fields to see the field and make throws in the passing game. That has been a concern that arose coming out of college and still exists after 25 games started in a Chicago Bears uniform.
The Bears will have to do everything in their power to break Justin Fields of these horrible habits or face the likelihood that Fields is not the franchise QB of the future. As Hub Arkush put it, Fields may be the greatest rushing QB of all time, but he’s not even average as a passer.
Could that mean that if the Bears wind up at the top of the NFL draft that they could look at a QB at the number one overall spot? The Texans finish out the season facing the 4-11-1 Indianapolis Colts, so the top overall pick is still in play.
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