Is Justin Fields responsible for Chicago Bears sacks?
As we have compared Justin Fields’ rookie seasons to those in the past we have realized that while Fields did not have a strong rookie season, his campaign is similar to many first-year signal-callers. The Chicago Bears rookie quarterback hit thresholds in nearly every statistical area, with the only real question mark coming from the number of sacks he took as a rookie.
Not many rookies who were sacked as often as Justin Fields are able to overcome these issues. Beyond that, the team lead the NFL in sacks taken, so this has to be something that improves next season.
Many fans will scream out that the offensive line did Justin Fields no favors, and that is for certain. According to PFF, the team ranked 24th in pass block efficiency. Beyond that, Justin Fields was pressured on 13.2% of his dropbacks, which is lower than the 13.6% that Andy Dalton saw. This shows that neither was responsible for the pressure they took on, as Fields ranked 20th in pressure responsibility and Dalton ranked 19th. Many other quarterbacks were creating their own pressure, but at the same time, when pressured Justin Fields created too many sacks.
Despite facing similar pressure, Dalton was sacked on 7.1% of his pass attempts, while Justin Fields was sacked on 11.8% of his. This is where Fields has to take some of the blame. Below, we see a chart that breaks down which sacks the quarterback is responsible for. You can see Fields is rather high in this area.
I like the idea of dividing up sack credit by pass blocking and QB. Using the same sack expectations based on the OL survival curves.
— Kevin Cole (@KevinCole___) February 17, 2022
Burrow would have had roughly 45 sacks at league average sack rate. He had 70. This analysis puts an extra 12 on his blocking and 13 on him. pic.twitter.com/NMFtGjRVkO
Last season he ranked sixth in pressure to sack rate. Tyler Huntley, Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Burrow, Baker Mayfield, and Zach Wilson were the only players with a worse rate this season.
Compared to all rookies since 2012, he ranks 12th in the highest pressure to sack rate. The names above him include.
Dwayne Haskins
Blake Bortles
Zach Wilson
Marcus Mariota
Blaine Gabbert
Kyler Murray
Jared Goff
Christian Ponder
EJ Manuel
Josh Rosen
The big thing to note from most of these names is that the sacks stay with you. Very rarely do you see a quarterback take too many sacks as a rookie, then improve on that skill.
It is worth noting that there is a difference between Justin Fields and Zach Wilson. Both are taking too many sacks, but while Justin Fields is responsible for 13% of the pressure he gets, Wilson is up at 19.7% of the pressure.
Of the top six players in pressure to sack rate, only Roethlisberger and Burrow are less responsible for the sacks that they take.
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This is good for Fields because Wilson will now have to show that he not only can avoid sacks but that he is not putting himself in trouble by creating pressure on his own.
The Chicago Bears have to be cognisant that Fields will take sacks when he is pressured. However, he will not create the pressure himself, so if they can reduce the pressure, they can still reduce the sacks.