Justin Fields is the most misunderstood, underappreciated and poorly used quarterback in recent NFL history.
He’s a talented athlete with the skillsets to keep defenses guessing, yet every team he has played for has squandered his abilities by not building around him and then moving on just when he starts to progress.
In two seasons at Ohio State, Fields went 20-2, threw for 5,373 yards, 63 TDs and 9 INTs and rushed for 867 yards and 15 TDs. In the National Championship Game, he outshined “generational talent” Trevor Lawrence and the entire Clemson team by himself, throwing for 385 yards, 6 TDs and 1 INT.
His Buckeye’ tenure convinced the Bears to trade with the Giants and move up to select Fields with the 11th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, making him the fourth QB chosen behind Trevor Lawrence (1st overall), Zach Wilson (Jets, 2nd) and Trey Lance (49ers, 3rd).
His first two seasons were marred by bad coaching, a horrendous offensive line and a lack of weapons. But in Year 2, he did set the QB single-season rushing record with 1,143 yards, breaking Michael Vick’s record set in 2006 (1,039). He also added 8 TDs on the ground.
In Year 3, the Bears added a true WR no.1 in DJ Moore, which enabled Fields to have his best season to date- 2,562 yards passing, 16 TDs and 9 INTs while missing a few games due to a hand injury.
Unfortunately, Fields could not overcome poor coaching and a lack of talented personnel, and the Bears went 10-28 in his three seasons under center in Chicago.
At the time, I wrote, “Justin Fields deserves better, and if Chicago isn’t going to do right by him, then they should send him to a team that will.”
It appeared Pittsburgh listened as they traded a conditional sixth-rounder for the young QB in 2024.
With Fields under center, and Arthur Smith as the new offensive coordinator, the Steelers started out at 4-2 and seemed to have a new outlook on what had become a stale, bland and horrendous offense.
Fields threw for 1,106 yards with 5 TDs and 1 INT while completing a career-best 65.8% of his passes. He also added 289 yards rushing and 5 TDs and gave the Steelers a true red zone threat.
This had me thinking things had changed for both Fields and the Steelers.
I was wrong.
