There have often been rubber-meets-the-road moments for quarterbacks in Chicago Bears history. These were times when guys could no longer survive by their draft status and "potential." They needed to start producing on the field. Mitch Trubisky faced his in 2019. He'd had two years to grow and had everything needed to excel that season after such a promising 2018. He flopped. That was the first evidence that he didn't have what it takes to reach franchise QB height. For Justin Fields, 2023 will be that time.
His first two years were spent getting into a stable environment with a reliable coaching staff. This off-season saw the Bears build the roster around him. Everything looks at least serviceable now. Nobody is expecting actual MVP numbers, but it's not unreasonable to believe he should at least post well over 3,000 yards passing and a 90+ passer rating. Those are common occurrences for top 15 quarterbacks. Some aren't sure if he will be able to get there. Team insider Adam Jahns of The Athletic revealed one sign that indicates Fields has turned a corner.
"What I liked most about Fields’ camp is that he had seven-on-seven drills where he completed 80 percent or 90 percent of his passes. The ball was out quick and spread around. Some of those were checkdowns. But the speed in which he got them felt notable, especially compared with last season when he would scramble in the same drills or throw the ball away. The NFL can be a checkdown league, especially with defenses doing more to eliminate big plays. You can thank Vic Fangio for that. So stacking completions is important, and Fields needs to improve his 60.4 completion percentage from last season. Checkdowns limit the hits he takes and can still lead to positive yardage and first downs."
Justin Fields is learning the value of the checkdown.
People always seem to have snide remarks about quarterbacks checking the ball down. It's all about the big play in the NFL. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be aggressive, but it's never good if your quarterback actively avoids taking easy yards. Fields had the sixth-lowest checkdown rate in the NFL last season, with only 17 of his 318 passes (5.3%) coming in such varieties. Part of this came from his tendency to run as Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson were also low on the list.
However, if Justin Fields wants to evolve as a passer, he must learn to embrace this option more often. Keep this in mind. Justin Herbert (2nd), Joe Burrow (3rd), and Josh Allen (7th) all ranked in the top 10 in checkdown rate. All three made the playoffs, and two of them were Pro Bowlers. The trick for Fields is reducing his number of rushing attempts in favor of more checkdowns. He finally has enough weapons on the roster to make this strategy work. D.J. Moore and Khalil Herbert proved that against Tennessee.
