The Chicago Bears collaborated to get themselves a quarterback in Justin Fields. While many mocked that Matt Nagy being involved in the process was not good, they are not factoring that he did not get a chance to draft his guy at quarterback. Nick Foles was not his ideal quarterback, it was an available Qb at the right time. Same with Andy Dalton.
Now, Matt Nagy got to pick his guy, and he went all-in on Justin Fields. It is a big commitment, but Fields is perfect for Nagy.
5. Shotgun
The biggest issue between Trubisky and Nagy was that Trubisky liked to play under center, and Nagy wanted his QB to run out of the shotgun. In 2018 and 2019 Nagy ran out of shotgun 79% and 75% of the time according to Sharp Football Stats.
Trubisky struggled and Nagy dropped it down to 64% shotgun in 2020. However, when Foles got in the game he was right back to 74% shotgun. Nagy wants a QB who is comfortable taking the snap from the gun and being able to read the field from there.
Looking at QBs in this class and you see that Fields ran the second most shotgun snaps with 93% of his snaps coming from the gun. It is a minor detail, but a much more seamless fit and less that Matt Nagy needs to change.
4. Deep Passing
When did Mitch Trubisky get benched? He missed a wide-open target against Atlanta deep down the field for an explosive play. Matt Nagy preaches explosive plays and had enough. Nick Foles completed the same pass later in the game and won the job.
Justin Fields is not as accurate as Mac Jones, but when you factor in the depth of the target, he does create a strong depth-adjusted accuracy. His deep accuracy is one of the best in the class.
According to PFF, he had the best deep passing grade and had nine touchdowns to 0 INTs throwing the deep ball last season. His average depth of target was 10.4 last season. For comparison, Trevor Lawrence was at 9 and Mac Jones at 8.8. It is essentially a different sport, but Trubisky was at 7.8 last year.
The reality is that Fields opens the depth of this offense by his presence on the field. He unleashes guys like Darnell Mooney. Expect the Bears’ offense to expand.
3. Play Fakes
Beyond the deep passing is how well Fields is on play-action deep passing. Per ESPN Stats and Info Fields was 11-14 for 4 TDs and 0 INTs when throwing downfield off of play-action. Not only is Matt Nagy looking to add an explosion to the offense, but he is also looking to give his QB easy explosive chances with play-action and play fakes.
Matt Nagy runs a ton of RPOs, which helps to run from the shotgun formation. That helps give Justin Fields a quick decision where he can potentially get the ball out of his hands quickly.
However, where Matt Nagy can get really his brain working is with all of the change of pace and misdirection on offense. It is not just play-action, but jet sweeps and tosses, reverses, and other sorts of plays that make things easy for Justin Fields.
Justin Fields has all of the accuracy in the world. Teams were worried that the Ohio State offense had too much gimmick and movement in his offense, but that made him a target for Matt Nagy. Fields has shown he can handle a lot of moving pieces pre-snap and that is more important for Matt Nagy than anything.
2. Extension with his legs
What makes the RPO even more dangerous is when the quarterback is a true threat with his legs. Quarterbacks have the option to hand it off, to one side, run to the other, or of course, hold and throw it.
When Nick Foles is running this, one option is not respected. Mitch Trubisky hurt his shoulder, and whether it was him, the front office, or other factors, he was not running nearly as much. Matt Nagy once said that the QB has to add run to make an RPO game effective. Justin Fields can add that run.
Matt Nagy can roll Fields out, and if the play does not work, Fields is going to make something happen. He is not going to panic as we saw far too often with Mitch Trubisky. We are going to see a form of the Matt Nagy offense that we have not seen before because of the physical ability of Fields.
1. Perfect QB room
Andy Dalton signed with the Chicago Bears knowing that they could draft a quarterback. He is not going to panic or cause a scene. In fact, there is a good chance that given his salary and situation, he is perfect for Justin Fields. He is going to compete and is not going to back down from Fields. However, at the same time, he knows his job and that next year, he is likely to go somewhere else.
It would help him for teams to know he improve the QB room and left the room in better shape. He is going to push Fields and give the guidance he needs. It also helps that Andy Dalton knows the offense from Bill Lazor. It may give Dalton the head up for week one, but it also gives Fields a veteran who can show him the offense with ease.
That does not even get into Nick Foles and John DeFilippo. The duo won a Super Bowl together. Sure, as a QB coach and a backup, but hello, now they are back in roles where they could excel. Foles could still get traded, but as a human, there is not much better to bring to the QB room than Foles.
Between Lazor, DeFilippo, and Nagy, they have years of experience with talented QBs. Between Andy Dalton and Nick Foles, they have players who have been up and down around the NFL. This is not the duo that wins a Super Bowl, but as a whole, this is an excellent room to drop a QB into.
Overall, the drafting of Justin Fields has to be looked at as a plus.