Justin Fields

[Epyon]

1 hour ago, beardown3231 said:

Williams isn't a gunslinger. He's a strong armed QB who's extremely accurate to all levels of the field. 

I never took "gunslinger" to be a term that took into account accuracy as much as just a tendency to throw the ball into windows that perhaps others wouldn't..... an overconfidence in an ability to make throws, would be a good way to phrase it.

Grossman, and Cutler where gunslingers, imo... neither where all that accurate. Ditto Favre and Rodgers, though the latter would throw lazers wherever he wanted on target.

Caleb definitely strikes me as being in that same vein, Fields would be basically the polar opposite.

[chisoxguy7]

Watching the Lions just goes to show how the right staff elevates everyone around them.

Goff was an outcast in LA, ultimately included in the Stafford trade as a salary offset and just to get him out of LA. I watched him confidently throw into windows tonight that looked slammed shut. Now, if Ben Johnson is the one who turned Goff into a quarterback who can consistently move the offense down the field, give me that guy as our HC. You would think it has to be given Campbell's background is in defense.

What the Lions have done since hiring Campbell should absolutely be the measuring stick for the Bears. Whatever they have done, we need to emulate. Give me Johnson and give me their #2 out of the front office as GM.

[G08]

I found Brad Biggs' article today interesting. Comes off as someone who had an off-the-record chat with Ryan Poles about Justin Fields, the state of the team, and what the plan was for this season.

 

My takeaway is this: they want to see if Fields is the guy and if he can succeed in the NFL playing from the pocket in a "real" NFL offense. If he can do it, great! Free bite at the apple. If he can't do it? Well, that's a shame, but it means we at least have some weapons and an OL for the rookie we draft in the 2024 draft.

 

Something to think about.

[beardown3231]

23 minutes ago, G08 said:

I found Brad Biggs' article today interesting. Comes off as someone who had an off-the-record chat with Ryan Poles about Justin Fields, the state of the team, and what the plan was for this season.

 

My takeaway is this: they want to see if Fields is the guy and if he can succeed in the NFL playing from the pocket in a "real" NFL offense. If he can do it, great! Free bite at the apple. If he can't do it? Well, that's a shame, but it means we at least have some weapons and an OL for the rookie we draft in the 2024 draft.

 

Something to think about.

Do they have an OL for the rookie they draft? If they take Harrison over Fashanu, they better hope the new coach and/or GM decides to invest in the OL

[G08]

18 minutes ago, beardown3231 said:

Do they have an OL for the rookie they draft? If they take Harrison over Fashanu, they better hope the new coach and/or GM decides to invest in the OL

Ostensibly: Braxton Jones at LT, Darnell Wright at RT, Nate Davis at RG

LG and OC are open IMO. Maybe Carter goes to LG in the off-season.

[Sugashane]

4 minutes ago, G08 said:

Ostensibly: Braxton Jones at LT, Darnell Wright at RT, Nate Davis at RG

LG and OC are open IMO. Maybe Carter goes to LG in the off-season.

I have no issues with Carter competing, but hopefully they don't just hand him a spot. They did with Musty and that was a horrendous choice.

[beardown3231]

20 minutes ago, G08 said:

Ostensibly: Braxton Jones at LT, Darnell Wright at RT, Nate Davis at RG

LG and OC are open IMO. Maybe Carter goes to LG in the off-season.

So then I guess they will physically have 5 bodies, but going into 2024 with Maye or Williams & having Jones at LT would be a terrible idea as would just handing Davis the starting RG spot.

Edited September 30, 2023 by beardown3231

[G08]

1 hour ago, beardown3231 said:

So then I guess they will physically have 5 bodies, but going into 2024 with Maye or Williams & having Jones at LT would be a terrible idea as would just handing Davis the starting RG spot.

I think Jones' pass blocking grades have been top 10 in the NFL. Not bad for a second year 5th round pick.

Davis has skins on the wall at RG so I'm not sure I agree with you there.

[Ty21]

Not much more annoying in sports than fans on the couch thinking they would know how to run plays and be a coach. But this play usc ran where the qb fakes a handoff and runs to the left and dumps to a rb running to the flat in theory seems like it would work wonder for the bears. Have DJ in close.. fields out in the open to the left away from his porous line. Then he can make the read to dump to DJ in flats or run it himself. It’s a short pass idea that isn’t a bland screen. 

[beardown3231]

20 minutes ago, G08 said:

I think Jones' pass blocking grades have been top 10 in the NFL. Not bad for a second year 5th round pick.

Davis has skins on the wall at RG so I'm not sure I agree with you there.

He is also heavily penalized. If Fashanu is the pick, Jones will likely kick inside.

Davis does have skins on the wall, but he's also somewhat unreliable and has been most of his career. Certainly I think he's a capable starter, but I wouldn't just hand him the RG spot next year.

[G08]

12 minutes ago, beardown3231 said:

He is also heavily penalized. If Fashanu is the pick, Jones will likely kick inside.

Davis does have skins on the wall, but he's also somewhat unreliable and has been most of his career. Certainly I think he's a capable starter, but I wouldn't just hand him the RG spot next year.

I'd be good with Jones at guard if that's the play, kid certainly needs more sand in his *** though...

[Sugashane]

4 hours ago, G08 said:

I'd be good with Jones at guard if that's the play, kid certainly needs more sand in his *** though...

I think he would be a solid prospect at Center. Quick, athletic and said to be pretty smart, so generally that allows his lack of anchor to be overlooked a bit. Always has help on either side of there is a mammoth NT.

Getting low is the hard part for him I think, and things happen so fast inside. Definitely would have some struggles but look at Connor Williams in MIA. OT traits, smart player, and got moved to C without ever playing it before. He's been damn good too.

[Epyon]

7 hours ago, beardown3231 said:

Do they have an OL for the rookie they draft? If they take Harrison over Fashanu, they better hope the new coach and/or GM decides to invest in the OL

I'm super torn on this myself, because you also need WEAPONS, and I don't really know that we have one right now outside of DJ Moore...  Claypool sucks. Mooney isn't showing out considering he doesn't have to be the #1 anymore. Kmet wasn't a good resigning.... and everyone else may as well not even exist.  It doesn't look good, though admittedly it's really hard to tell how much is the receivers, and how much is Coaching/OL/QB play. Odds are there's enough blame to go around.

6 hours ago, Sugashane said:

I have no issues with Carter competing, but hopefully they don't just hand him a spot. They did with Musty and that was a horrendous choice.

This franchise's habit of just handing people jobs with no competition is one of my biggest pet peeves in general with this team. Literally no one should ever be safe from being replaced by some one else playing harder/better.

7 hours ago, G08 said:

I found Brad Biggs' article today interesting. Comes off as someone who had an off-the-record chat with Ryan Poles about Justin Fields, the state of the team, and what the plan was for this season.

 

My takeaway is this: they want to see if Fields is the guy and if he can succeed in the NFL playing from the pocket in a "real" NFL offense. If he can do it, great! Free bite at the apple. If he can't do it? Well, that's a shame, but it means we at least have some weapons and an OL for the rookie we draft in the 2024 draft.

 

Something to think about.

This is why I haven't been as upset with the scheme we've been running so far. If the point is seeing whether Fields can be a pocket passer, I'm all for it.

That said, the scheme we're running still kind of really sucks. Like, we're running a scheme that you'd draw up for Nathan Peterman because you need to manage a few games while your starter is out for a few weeks. Like I understand wanting to test Fields to see if he can operate an offense, but a checkdown and screen only offense is a poor way to do that, and still sorely lacking in data. If we really want to test Fields, throw in play checks and let Fields dictate what we're running dynamically.... Change the Tempo and run hurry up at times. Change the personnel packages from shotgun 11 all the time.... We have the TEs to run 12 personnel... We can do 2 RBs, 2 RBs + Fullback, we probably can't really run 5 WR spread, but hell throw a few plays of that in there too... Run play action out of the I formation. Like if we're gonna test the kid, then actually test him... Right now it feels like we're still running  a generic preseason offense .

[G08]

1 hour ago, Epyon said:

That said, the scheme we're running still kind of really sucks. Like, we're running a scheme that you'd draw up for Nathan Peterman because you need to manage a few games while your starter is out for a few weeks. Like I understand wanting to test Fields to see if he can operate an offense, but a checkdown and screen only offense is a poor way to do that, and still sorely lacking in data. If we really want to test Fields, throw in play checks and let Fields dictate what we're running dynamically.... Change the Tempo and run hurry up at times. Change the personnel packages from shotgun 11 all the time.... We have the TEs to run 12 personnel... We can do 2 RBs, 2 RBs + Fullback, we probably can't really run 5 WR spread, but hell throw a few plays of that in there too... Run play action out of the I formation. Like if we're gonna test the kid, then actually test him... Right now it feels like we're still running  a generic preseason offense .

Something just seems completely off compared to last season (not including the QB runs). His dropback seems slower, his footwork is not nearly as clean as it was, etc. It's just a mess everywhere and I don't know how much to pin on him vs the whole team.

I hope we come out tomorrow and just kick Denver's *** from jumpstreet. 60 minutes of whooping them by our offense/defense/special teams.

[Sugashane]

2 hours ago, Epyon said:

I'm super torn on this myself, because you also need WEAPONS, and I don't really know that we have one right now outside of DJ Moore...  Claypool sucks. Mooney isn't showing out considering he doesn't have to be the #1 anymore. Kmet wasn't a good resigning.... and everyone else may as well not even exist.  It doesn't look good, though admittedly it's really hard to tell how much is the receivers, and how much is Coaching/OL/QB play. Odds are there's enough blame to go around.

This franchise's habit of just handing people jobs with no competition is one of my biggest pet peeves in general with this team. Literally no one should ever be safe from being replaced by some one else playing harder/better.

This is why I haven't been as upset with the scheme we've been running so far. If the point is seeing whether Fields can be a pocket passer, I'm all for it.

That said, the scheme we're running still kind of really sucks. Like, we're running a scheme that you'd draw up for Nathan Peterman because you need to manage a few games while your starter is out for a few weeks. Like I understand wanting to test Fields to see if he can operate an offense, but a checkdown and screen only offense is a poor way to do that, and still sorely lacking in data. If we really want to test Fields, throw in play checks and let Fields dictate what we're running dynamically.... Change the Tempo and run hurry up at times. Change the personnel packages from shotgun 11 all the time.... We have the TEs to run 12 personnel... We can do 2 RBs, 2 RBs + Fullback, we probably can't really run 5 WR spread, but hell throw a few plays of that in there too... Run play action out of the I formation. Like if we're gonna test the kid, then actually test him... Right now it feels like we're still running  a generic preseason offense .

I still believe Mooney is well below 100%. Maybe I am just completely off but I don't see him getting near the separation or showing the same burst he had before. Kmet has been a massive disappointment. His drop in blocking is bizarre. IDK what the hell happened.

Exactly right. One of my favorite quotes was by Bill Walsh and was parroted constantly by my high school coach, even had it painted on the locker room wall. “Consistent motivation usually comes from a consuming desire to be able to perform at your best under pressure, namely, the pressure produced by tough competition."  - Bill Walsh    (It is finished with, "If a player needed me to light a fire under him by turning the other team into a demon, he was lacking something I couldn’t give him.” )

Walsh also wrote in Finding the Winning Edge: "In the football arena, competition not only involves winners and losers, it also serves as a meaningful opportunity for the development, exercise and expression of human excellence. In that regard, trying to win means attempting to do the best you can at all facets of the game. In other words, your focus should be on attempting to demonstrate excellence in all of the ways that the game calls for. Concurrently, your opponent's efforts to excel and to outperform you provide you with the opportunity to strive to do your best."  

If you don't have competition in practice then they aren't going to be prepared for essentially a war come Sunday. For all the bluster of HITS and how Eberflus is a taskmaster, this team is dreadfully prepared.

I 100% am in support of this season being completely about finding out if Fields is the right guy. But the playcalling sucks and you don't neuter your QB's greatest strength to show he can be what you want. If anyone ever expected Fields to carve a team up like Warner, Brady or Peyton then they were out of their ******* minds. What you should hope for was that he could be a QB who is a 10-15 ranked passer in the pocket but has elite athleticism to pressure the defense laterally and force them to open passing lanes because of his ability to run. If Fields isn't able to grasp the offense or whatever the excuse was for the threepeat of screens then you let him burn before calling it in like that. Move the pocket, run a levels to the right and if he can't make the read then he runs it. Force him to throw it deep 1-2 times every quarter just to try and keep the defense honest, and if they back up then you just opened up gaps to throw into. If the WR keeps missing the reads and not sitting in zones then you bench them the next week.

That being said I am fully embracing the tank now, so hopefully they find a buyer like MIA, SF, or LAR to ship him off to. It would be nice to see him in a Taysom Hill role and get to learn from a real coach and QB.