Getty QB Justin Fields
When the Chicago Bears moved up nine spots to nab Justin Fields at No. 11, there were a few pre-draft rumors that came with the former Ohio State quarterback. Ex-NFL quarterback and current ESPN personality Dan Orlovsky was one of a few analysts who questioned Fields’ work ethic leading up to the draft, saying he heard that Fields was “a last-guy-in, first-guy-out type of quarterback.”
Ryan Day, Fields’ head coach at Ohio State, was quick to disregard that particular rumor, as well as a few others that popped up surrounding Fields. Now, NFL analysts are joining him in defense of the rookie QB — and they’ve got video to back up their assertions.
NFL analyst and creator/host of The Film Room, Brett Kollmann, just dispelled nearly every pre-draft myth about the Bears rookie quarterback in a 22-minute video — and he came with receipts.
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Kollmann Blasts ‘Bull—-‘ Narratives Surrounding Fields
Kollmann was quick to remind viewers of the things Orlovsky and others said about Fields, using snippets of their criticism at the beginning of his video before incorporating film of Fields, as well as clips of quarterbacks Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles, in order to illustrate good quarterback play (Fields) versus bad quarterback play (every signal-caller in a Bears uniform last year).
“One of the weirdest, honestly one of the most bull—- narratives to pop out during this entire off-season — either before the draft or after the draft — is that Justin Fields is a raw quarterback prospect,” Kollmann began. “I’ve seen some people say that he’s not ready to play as a rookie because he doesn’t know how to read defenses and play from the pocket.”
That’s “garbage,” Kollmann says, adding: “He’s actually one of the more pro-ready prospects to come out in years.”
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Fields Will Immediately Boost Bears Offense, Kollmann Says
“The biggest problem for the Bears offense over last several seasons has been a lack of explosive plays. Chicago was among the worst offenses in the league when it came to having success with 20+ yards passes or 15+ yard runs,” Kollmann continued.
“Justin Fields will improve the Bears offense by orders of magnitude in 2021,” he added, calling the narrative surrounding Fields “complete nonsense … He actually kind of fixes every single problem that the Bears offense has.”
Kollmann then incorporated film of plays courtesy of both Trubisky and Foles in the Bears offense last year, and he showcased how Trubisky’s lack of accuracy, football acumen, and arm strength coupled with Foles’ lack of mobility were both a hindrance to Matt Nagy’s offense.
“When you look at Justin Fields’ skill set, he fills every single individual hole that both Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles had in their own skill sets combined. For starters, he has the ability to work through progressions quickly on basically every concept you can throw at him,” Kollmann stated, before breaking down what Fields brings to the table:
Physically, he’s somebody that can be a threat as a runner, too, both in designed runs and on scrambles … He is a very capable thrower on the run, so not only can he improve the run game just by being a threat himself that defenses have to account for — a la Mitch Trubisky — but he can win in the second phase areas, as well, and make something out of nothing as a passer, which no Bears quarterback has really been able to do since…I guess prime Jay Cutler. This mystical narrative with a guy like Fields that he doesn’t know how to read defenses, that he’s not accurate, that he’s not tough, that he’s a run first-guy, that he’s not a good leader, all of those things are not just easy to prove false with the slightest effort put into film study … they’re also pretty easy to prove false with data, as well.
Fields More Impressive Resumé Than Trevor Lawrence?
Perhaps the part Bears fans will like best about Kollmann’s breakdown of Fields is his conclusion: Fields should be deadly with a capable line and weapons like David Montgomery, Allen Robinson and Darnell Mooney.
I don’t want to mince words here: it is flat out bull—- what Fields had to put up with during the pre-draft criticism cycle last spring, because you could argue that he had a more impressive resumé than every other quarterback in this draft, and that includes Trevor Lawrence. He’s got perfect recall, he’s tough as nails, he basically already knows how to read every single concept that the Bears run, because they both (Ohio State and Chicago) utilized mostly aerated West Coast concepts, he’s pin-point accurate on every level of the field, he’s unflappable in the pocket, and he’s as dynamic as it gets as a runner. He is everything that both Trubisky and Foles are not — simultaneously. I don’t know how else to put this, but the Bears got kind of lucky that they were able to draft Justin Fields at 11 overall, because most years, he would not have been available that late. … This is a perfect fit to me, between prospect and team. It really is.
You can watch Kollmann break it all down below:
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