NEWSLETTER
Justin Fields’ rookie season had some splashy moments, but the overall picture wasn’t something you’d want to look at for too long.
Frankly, if it were up to me, I’d mark last year’s tape from the record and throw it into a body of water the way Stone Cold Steve Austin once famously tossed The Rock’s Intercontinental Championship title belt into the river. And I don’t think I’m alone in feeling that way.
Jeff Hughes (Da Bears Blog) shared bits from an interesting conversation with someone he crosses paths with “who just happens to be very high up in an NFL organization.” And among the questions that Hughes asked this anonymous NFL front office executive was what the league thought of Bears QB Justin Fields after his rookie year. And the reply made my ears perk:
DBB: Bears fans on Twitter seem obsessed with proving Justin Fields is good. What does the league think of him after his rookie season?
[REDACTED]: “I was talking to [ALSO REDACTED, BUT HE INTERVIEWED FOR BEARS GM JOB] the other day and he might be Fields’ biggest fan. But man, even he can’t get a handle on the 2021 tape. The word he used was “nonsensical.” One of our pro personnel guys recommended we throw out his rookie year and start over with him in September. I think Bears fans would be wise to do the same.”
In theory, throwing out the tape is a good idea. Deleting Matt Nagy’s offense from my brain would be wonderful. But I’m not sure we should completely discard what we saw las year. At least, from a developmental point of view. After all, you can’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been. And while so much of last year’s film was U-G-L-Y, I feel as if there is something to learn from one’s mistakes. If only so you know what you did wrong so you don’t do it again. Let’s face it. I suppose that there is some value in sometimes being reminded that Fields is a work in progress. And nothing reminds us of that like seeing how bad *SOME* of Fields’ throws were, even when he had protection:
To be clear, this isn’t the worst throw I’ve ever seen. That Fields was able to get it in the receiver’s vicinity with some zip was nice. But a better throw gets the ball to Mooney where he doesn’t have to dive for it. And a good throw could’ve led to Mooney racking up yards after the catch and possibly finding the end zone. In an ideal world, Fields sees that video, realizes what he did, fixes whatever led him to misfire, and – when given an opportunity to throw that ball again – does it better. Because that is how one grows from one year to the next. Development isn’t linear. So while I want to chuck the tape into parts unknown, let’s let Fields learn from it first.
But when it comes to a fan’s perspective, I’m all about erasing the ick. If you have physical copies, shred it all. Then burn the shredding’s remnants. After that, collect the dust and ash, put it on a rocket, and fire it into the sun so it can never be seen again.
