Bill Lazor; The Plan To Develop Justin Fields

[soulman]

Tossing this in if only to further support the Bears plan for Fields.

Patience and trust

From the Chicago Tribune Sports Section.
‘Time is the biggest question’ in Fields’ development; a look back at past rookie QBs lends insight into the process.

Quarterback Justin Fields takes a snap during the Bears rookie minicamp Saturday at Halas Hall in Lake Forest. John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune

More than two decades later, the visceral reaction of Philadelphia Eagles fans to the selection of Donovan McNabb with the No. 2 pick in the 1999 NFL draft remains fresh in Brad Childress’ memory.

Childress was kneeling next to the Eagles table at the Theater at Madison Square Garden when Commissioner Paul Tagliabue announced the pick, but he wasn’t there to take in the extravaganza. He was on a mission, sent by coach Andy Reid to get the team’s new quarterback on the fast track to be ready to play.

Armed with a playbook — which he presented to McNabb in a limousine shortly after Eagles fans lustily booed the Mount Carmel graduate — Childress was tasked with introducing the first pick of the Reid era to the offense, years before playbooks were available on mobile devices.

“The plan when we went to Philadelphia and Andy talked me out of staying at Wisconsin — we had just gone to the Rose Bowl — he says, ‘Come on and coach the quarterbacks. We’re going to take one. We’ve got the second pick,’ ” Childress recalled. “So we end up with Donovan, which is who we wanted. The big thing was I said, ‘He’ll come in and be the No. 3 guy?’ And Andy’s statement to me was, ‘When you take a guy this high, he’s got to be No. 2.’

“Listening to the people boo, which should have been the happiest day for Donovan, it was really surreal. We proceeded to get right back in the limousine because we had minicamp at the end of the week. If he’s going to take turns as the second quarterback, he’s got to get it in pretty quick. He needs to know cadence, snap count, all that kind of stuff. So I took him through the whole installation, talked to him on the phone every night that week.”

The 1999 draft was the second time in league history quarterbacks were selected with the top three picks, with Tim Couch going to the Cleveland Browns at No. 1, followed by McNabb and Akili Smith to the Cincinnati Bengals. In all, five quarterbacks were chosen in the top 12 picks as the Minnesota Vikings selected Daunte Culpepper at No. 11, one pick before the Chicago Bears took Cade McNown.

Quarterbacks also went off the board with the top three picks last month. Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars), Zach Wilson (New York Jets) and Trey Lance (San Francisco 49ers) went 1-2-3 before the Bears traded up to grab Justin Fields at No. 11.

The Bears introduced Fields to their playbook for the first time last weekend during rookie minicamp, and the focus now is on how they will develop the Ohio State product and when he’ll be ready to supplant veteran Andy Dalton.

Childress is an interesting resource because he was with Reid in Philadelphia when they developed McNabb into one of the league’s better quarterbacks, and he was on the Kansas City Chiefs staff when they chose Patrick Mahomes with the No. 10 pick in 2017. Childress also served as a Bears assistant under Matt Nagy in 2018 and 2019 before the Aurora native retired, so he offers unique insight into the process at Halas Hall to try to end a never-ending quarterback search.

All three scenarios — the Eagles with McNabb, the Chiefs with Mahomes and the Bears with Fields — are different. The Chiefs had the best starting quarterback in place for a rookie to learn behind in Alex Smith. The Bears are better off with Dalton than the Eagles were at the time with Doug Pederson, who had not started an NFL game before the 1999 season after coming with Reid from the Green Bay Packers.
The Bears have to balance preparing Dalton for an offense that is new to him while readying Fields for what is unquestionably the franchise’s future.

“There’s no doubt that the urge in Chicago from fans — probably not as much from ownership because they trust Matt and Ryan (Pace) — is they’re going to want to see what they bought,” Childress said. “And you know Philly was a city like that. They booed Doug off the field a couple times.

“You’ve got to get (Fields) turns, and that’s the thing Andy thrust home. So Donovan was going to get turns. If it was a 10-play script, the starter was going to get six and he was going to get four. If it was a 25-play period, the starter may get 15, 17 plays, and the No. 2 is going to get the next amount.

“It will be interesting to see how (the Bears) derive that because they’re going to want to see (Fields) with good versus good (first offense against first defense). Sometimes when you play the third quarterback with the third line and third receivers, it’s not fair. You say, ‘Boy, he’s not playing very good.’ Well, there’s not a lot of other guys that are playing very good around him either.”

Nagy has talked extensively about the plan he’s preparing with offensive coordinator Bill Lazor and passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo. He has been short on details, but Fields is likely to get some reps with the starters and the plan could evolve if the rookie shows he’s capable of more.

“My big thing with Donovan, he would tell you, is you’ve got to present yourself as the first in, last out,” Childress said. “You’ve got to be getting off the treadmill with a sweat when everybody is just starting to walk in the locker room. You’ve got to have spent time looking at the tape. They’ve got to know you’re invested in this and it’s not just a deal where you’ve been crowned king and you’re going to make the grand appearance.

“You’ve got to earn it and you’ve got to show it to the guys on the practice field. I am sure that is what Matt is referring to when he says, ‘Everybody will know when it’s time.’ They’ve got probably as good a staff as you can have in place for grooming a guy that way.”
Fields has a reputation for being a gym rat, so it’s easy to envision him understanding the responsibilities and commitments Childress describes that come with being essentially the CEO of the roster. Childress said Mahomes quickly took to arriving early and the Chiefs expedited his development under quarterbacks coach Mike Kafka with projects they worked on early every day.

There’s a rush for teams to get highly drafted quarterbacks on the field. The Bears felt that four years ago with Mitch Trubisky, who was thrust into action in Week 5 of his rookie season. Most teams drafting quarterbacks that high need a makeover, and few have the luxury of a guy like Alex Smith in place. Patience and time for development can be scarce, and the blending of what used to be considered college offensive concepts into the pro game has made the process somewhat easier. Still, odds are stacked against even high picks developing into franchise quarterbacks.

Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer has a detailed chart of the quarterbacks drafted in Round 1 since 2000, and as he notes, the trend for playing first-year QBs began to shift in 2008, when Matt Ryan (Atlanta Falcons) and Joe Flacco (Baltimore Ravens) were drafted and started all 16 games as rookies for playoff teams.

Thirty-nine quarterbacks were selected in Round 1 from 2008 through 2020, and only three sat for all or nearly all of their rookie seasons: Jordan Love (2020 Packers), Mahomes (2017 Chiefs) and Jake Locker (2011 Tennessee Titans). Thirty-one started by the eighth game of the season. Twenty-eight started by Week 5, to use Trubisky’s timeline during John Fox’s final season as Bears coach.

While the Bears didn’t pick up Fields in a limo at the draft — he was watching the event with family in Georgia — they introduced him to their system in Zoom meetings during the two weeks before rookie minicamp. So the process, which will merge him in with veterans as the voluntary offseason program unfolds, is well underway.

“Whenever you get a player of this athletic ability, this is a guy you really want to work with,” DeFilippo said. “The thing I’ve noticed with Justin is he’s very coachable. I think the first few days, there was a little — I don’t want to say shock to the system — but there was a little bit of, he’s got to know the amount of information that’s coming at him in a very short amount of time and what we demand and the way a quarterback meeting is run in the National Football League, where it’s dialogue between the coach and the player.

“That’s the way I like to run our quarterback meetings. There’s dialogue back and forth. I call it Charlie Brown’s Teacher Syndrome. You don’t want to be the guy at the front of the room that’s just, ‘Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah.’ They tune you out after a while. So there needs to be that dialogue there in understanding how quarterback meetings are run, and I think he’s done a fantastic job of adapting to that and adapting to our coaching style.”

Fields said he tried to emulate Cam Newton when he was younger, but in recent years he has attempted to pattern himself after Russell Wilson. Newton started for the Carolina Panthers from Day 1 in 2011 as the No. 1 pick. Wilson emerged from a three-way camp battle with Matt Flynn and Tarvaris Jackson as the Seattle Seahawks starter in 2012 after getting drafted in the third round.

Wilson displayed uncanny leadership from the start and blew away coaches with his preparation. It helped that the Seahawks could put him into an offense with a bruising running game and a stout defense also in place. He excelled immediately and Pete Carroll hasn’t turned back since — even rebuffing trade interest from the Bears in March.

McNabb didn’t have immediate success in Philadelphia. He completed only 49.1% of his passes in six starts as a rookie. Childress vividly recalled Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Warren Sapp chasing McNabb all over the field during one game at Veterans Stadium.
But the Eagles went 11-5 the next season, and in McNabb’s third year they started a run of four consecutive appearances in the NFC championship game with one Super Bowl trip.

Conventional thinking is the Bears want to begin the season with Dalton, as the last thing they want to do is risk damaging Fields’ development by throwing him into regular-season action before he’s ready. But he’s also the shiny new toy in the building — the quarterback with electric athletic ability, a big-time arm and a proven track record at a Big Ten powerhouse — so Nagy and his staff will be tempted to play the rookie. There’s no reason to tap the brakes on his development, but the Bears have to be prudent after failing to develop their last QB project, Trubisky.

Timing is of the essence for an offense in need of a major spark, and it’s also the No. 1 thing on everyone’s mind.
“So we have a guy like Andy that’s coming in here that’s eager to learn this offense and show what he can do and also help groom Justin, you know?” Nagy said. “Be able to help him and let him be the best quarterback that Justin can be through the experiences that Andy’s had. I know that time is the biggest question right now for Justin, and I completely understand that because there is an excitement and there is that want for all of us to be able to see what Justin can do.

“We’d be lying to you if we didn’t say that or believe that, but we’ve got to make sure as we go through this thing that we also do what’s best for the Bears and for Justin. And so that’s where I think, as time goes by and we see how things go, we’ll know and we’ll all see it and feel it and I think it will be very natural how this process goes.”

For his part, Fields said he’s trying to take the process step by step, each period, each lesson, each coaching point. He has been making flash cards to help digest the offense piece by piece. His arrival has raised the energy level at Halas Hall, and everyone is eager to see how he integrates with the veterans over the next month and then in training camp.

“I kind of feel like I’m made for this,” Fields said. “I’m built for this.”

He’s on his own fast track. Where that process leads remains to be seen. Fortunately, he didn’t have to endure a chorus of boo birds on his draft night.

[G08]

9 minutes ago, soulman said:

and that’s the thing Andy thrust home.

... that wording and mental image 🤢

[soulman]

21 hours ago, WindyCity said:

Of course Rodgers believes that sitting was good for him, that is his experience and we are always biased towards our own experiences, I am sure Justin Herbet or Kyler Murray think playing right away and learning on the fly worked super well for them.

What we should also take away from Rodgers story is the realization that it happened 17 years ago and that he was sitting behind a future HOF QB.  If Rodgers had been drafted more recently instead and his competition was a mid level NFL starter like Andy Dalton he may well have started at some point during his rookie year.

I posted yet another piece from the Tribune that speaks not only to Fields development but also to the careers of others and clearly there has been a trend to start rookie QBs much sooner than was the case a decade or more ago.  I think Nagy and his staff are in agreement that when it's time for Fields to start he will start.

[soulman]

2 minutes ago, G08 said:

... that wording and mental image 🤢

Football porn.....LOL.

[WindyCity]

The issue is that we know that Fields is starting at some point this season. We do not have Alex Smith in his 4th year with 3 straight playoff appearances coming off a 12-4 season.

That means every rep that Dalton gets... is a rep that Fields does not get.

That means that whenever Fields plays he will have fewer reps than he could have and will be less prepared than he could have been.

[WindyCity]

3 minutes ago, soulman said:

What we should also take away from Rodgers story is the realization that it happened 17 years ago and that he was sitting behind a future HOF QB.  If Rodgers had been drafted more recently instead and his competition was a mid level NFL starter like Andy Dalton he may well have started at some point during his rookie year.

I posted yet another piece from the Tribune that speaks not only to Fields development but also to the careers of others and clearly there has been a trend to start rookie QBs much sooner than was the case a decade or more ago.  I think Nagy and his staff are in agreement that when it's time for Fields to start he will start.

Also, who knows if Rodgers wouldn't have been an MVP in year 3 instead of watching Favre.

The Packers kept the more talented QB on the bench out of respect to the HOF starter and Favre wasn't good those last 3 years.

Would the Packers have been better if they had started Rodgers in year 2 or 3? 

[G08]

@soulmanawesome read, thank you for sharing.

 

Look I think everyone on this board wants to see Justin Fields play sooner rather than later. I'm probably in the minority here, but I think the best case scenario is for Andy Dalton to have an exceptional season (not likely, I know) which affords Fields to learn at his pace (whether slow or fast). It's like the coaching staff has said, once they know Justin Fields is ready, everyone will know.

Maybe that means we're 5-4 or 6-3 heading into the bye week, with Dalton coming off a subpar game. If Fields is demonstrating -- consistently -- that he can in and out of the huddle, call plays clearly, make proper checks at the LOS and get the snap off before the play-clock hits zero, then put him in. The very last thing I want to do is throw him out there and he short circuits. This is a very demanding offense, I don't know if many of us are putting enough stock/credence into that.

Otherwise, you're very likely looking at running Ohio State's offense, or some derivative of it, in order to make Fields more comfortable (nothing necessarily wrong with that). Is that fair to the rest of the team/is that what is best for the rest of the team?

Edited May 19, 2021 by G08

[soulman]

5 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

The issue is that we know that Fields is starting at some point this season. We do not have Alex Smith in his 4th year with 3 straight playoff appearances coming off a 12-4 season.

That means every rep that Dalton gets... is a rep that Fields does not get.

That means that whenever Fields plays he will have fewer reps than he could have and will be less prepared than he could have been.

Read what I just posted from the Trib.  Reps by each are discussed/

[dll2000]

1 hour ago, JAF-N72EX said:

How do you know that he isn't?

Read the next two lines you cut out in the post you quoted and you will have your answer.

I don't know.  But I can surmise by what GB thinks by what they are doing and not doing.

If Love was ready to play and they were confident in that Rodgers would be in Denver right now and GB would be 3 first rounders richer. 

 

[WindyCity]

2 minutes ago, G08 said:

@soulmanawesome read, thank you for sharing.

 

Look I think everyone on this board wants to see Justin Fields play sooner rather than later. I'm probably in the minority here, but I think the best case scenario is for Andy Dalton to have an exceptional season (not likely, I know) which affords Fields to learn at his pace (whether slow or fast). It's like the coaching staff has said, once they know Justin Fields is ready, everyone will know.

Maybe that means we're 5-4 or 6-3 heading into the bye week, with Dalton coming off a subpar game. If Fields is demonstrating -- consistently -- that he can in and out of the huddle, call plays clearly, make proper checks at the LOS and get the snap off before the playclock hits zero, then put him in. The very last thing I want to do is throw him out there and he short circuits. This is a very demanding offense, I don't know many of us are putting enough stock/credence into that.

This is all your Mitch fear talking. 

This isn't Mitch. Nothing in this guys past or make up should lead us to believe he is going to short circuit and be overwhelmed.

 

Best case scenario... Fields grabs the job in camp and never looks back.

[G08]

Just now, WindyCity said:

This is all your Mitch fear talking. 

This isn't Mitch. Nothing in this guys past or make up should lead us to believe he is going to short circuit and be overwhelmed.

 

Best case scenario... Fields grabs the job in camp and never looks back.

It's not, I wanted Mitch to sit for all of his rookie season. Then Mike Glennon happened.

I look at developing a QB like I look at developing any of my professional hires. I don't just throw them to the wolves and have them short-circuit (I've seen it happen in the past). You ease them in and they show you how quickly or how slowly they need to develop.

[WindyCity]

3 minutes ago, soulman said:

Read what I just posted from the Trib.  Reps by each are discussed/

I read it.

Even if it is split 60/40... that is 20% of reps that Justin is missing out on.

Realistically, if Fields is the #1 he probably can take 70-80% of 1st team reps as you can assume Dalton doesn't need as many.

[G08]

Just now, G08 said:

Best case scenario... Fields grabs the job in camp and never looks back.

We agree here. If he consistently demonstrates that he's not only ready to play -- but that is he ready to consistently play well -- put his *** in.

[WindyCity]

Just now, G08 said:

It's not, I wanted Mitch to sit for all of his rookie season. Then Mike Glennon happened.

I look at developing a QB like I look at developing any of my professional hires. I don't just throw them to the wolves and have them short-circuit (I've seen it happen in the past). You ease them in and they show you how quickly or how slowly they need to develop.

If you made a higher of someone who had 2 years doing a similar job at the highest level just below yours... you probably do no nee to ease them in.

The ease in period is training camp and the preseason.

[WindyCity]

Just now, G08 said:

We agree here. If he consistently demonstrates that he's not only ready to play -- but that is he ready to consistently play well -- put his *** in.

I just do not want to limit his reps. As you said in a previous post, the more reps the better, in my world every rep invested in Dalton is a sunk cost.