Justin Fields is the next quarterback of the New York Jets, which means it’s time to dive into his film.
In this review, we will be focusing on Fields’ first three starts of the 2024 season (Weeks 1-3).
General notes
Fields has shown inconsistency with his accuracy on the run. He relies heavily on his legs and scrambling, especially on third downs.
Fields tends to process information slowly after his first read, often hesitating and taking longer than needed to make decisions.
While Fields’ intermediate accuracy is solid, he struggles with resetting his feet outside the pocket, affecting his overall precision.
Fields is effective on RPOs, play action, boots, and naked bootlegs from the gun, but his internal clock sometimes fails him, leading to bad sacks. Although he’s not afraid to air it out, his deep ball could use better touch at times. His vision also seems to be lacking, as he’s hesitant to throw into tight windows, and his pocket awareness and movement are subpar, which can cause him to get into trouble when he’s not decisive. At times, he becomes trigger-shy, which leads to him escaping the pocket unnecessarily.
When analyzing the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense under OC Arthur Smith, it’s clear that the scheme was fairly stagnant and provided limited support for Fields. The team struggled with a lack of good wide receivers and featured numerous stagnant route concepts that didn’t create separation.
Play action was prevalent in Pittsburgh’s scheme but often lacked creativity. The passing concepts were frequently too simplistic, with routes clustered together, which limited Fields’ options. There seems to be a lack of effort from route runners, contributing to an overall lack of opportunity for success. Many of the concepts simply did not give him a fair chance to thrive, making his job that much harder.
Justin Fields Film (Weeks 1-3, 2024)
Pre-snap, the CB matches the RB motioning out, so Fields knows it’s zone. The Steelers run some sort of stick/stick/go at the bottom with an out/go at the top. Fields feels a little bit of interior pressure and doesn’t like the initial look, which is fine. He does a good job breaking out of the pocket, but this is a putrid miss. It’s not even close.
Interesting play action on 3rd & 12: a flood concept to the boundary, a deep corner, an intermediate out, and a flat. Fields makes the connection, but I feel like he could have ripped it on the first hitch. This causes the ball to be a little behind, forcing George Pickens to make an acrobatic catch and eliminating his YAC opportunity. Fields gets it done with the conversion, but this is not the best execution.
Very unique play at the end of the first half. Fields sprints out one way, resets, flips his hips, and throws with high-level anticipation (before Pickens is out of his break). Nice job moving the launch point, and this throw is outstanding, incredibly far and long. He throws with perfect anticipation and accuracy. This shows that he has it in him!
You cannot take the sack here. It is 3rd & 4 with a stick/wheel to the bottom and choice/go up top. Post-snap, it looks like some sort of 2-high match coverage, but both sticks are open for a first down! It looks like Fields gets off Pickens quickly for no reason, then gets to #88 and doesn’t rip that either. Puzzling. He doesn’t even have the time to get to the checkdown. Again, the processing is just an issue.
Power play action here from Pittsburgh. There is a little crack and go at the bottom and a deep curl from Pickens at the top, which is open. Fields looks to pat the ball to load up and throw but decides not to. Incomplete to the checkdown. It is another missed opportunity; I would love to see him anticipate the opening from Pickens and layer it in there.
On 3rd & 5, needing a first down to ice the game, Pittsburgh goes to the QB counter, of course! Seriously, it’s nuts: They come out in 14 personnel, screaming that they’re running it, but the defense can’t stop it. The Steelers get good enough blocks from the two pullers, and we see a great job from Fields to stay skinny and patient, power through two tackles, and lower the shoulder for the first. The kid is tough.
The Steelers are in 3×2 empty against a pretty clear Cover 0 look. It looks like Fields sets the protection to slide left, so he should know he’s hot off #0. He could throw Pickens open on the slant with some anticipation here, but opts not to. Instead, he shows his athleticism and speed to get around the corner and pick up 16 yards rather than take a sack. Elite elusiveness and athletic ability on display.
The Steelers come out in 14 personnel on 1st & Goal. Fields just cannot take a sack here. After the play action fake (which feels like a pretty lazy one), I would like to see him get a little bit more depth in the pocket. The Steelers attempt to run a rub with their field TEs but Fields see the Broncos pass it off with ease. He gets to his #2 read with Pat Freiermuth running a glance route, which isn’t open, and right then, the ball just has to go through the back of the end zone with it being too congested to go to the checkdown. It just feels like everything happens a bit slowly for him at times, especially on the goal line. You’ve got to have some urgency.
Easily my favorite rep so far. On 3rd & 11, the Broncos play 1 hole (man across the board with a hole defender and a deep middle safety). Fields diagnoses it and sees Patrick Surtain playing soft man on the outside. He plays this with elite anticipation, hitting Pickens on the deep out before he is out of his break. Fields hits the top of his drop, takes one hitch, and the ball is out. He subtly uses his one hitch to the right away from pressure as well. A far throw that he makes look pretty easy, and he takes a hit for good measure. A+ rep.
This one came back for holding, but it is too good of a rep to exclude. On the scramble drill, Fields improvises outside of the pocket and throws a 45-yard handoff to Pickens with the DPOY draped all over him. Fields is pretty hit-or-miss with his ball placement outside the pocket, but this is as good as it gets.
Pittsburgh runs an RPO near the goal line on 3rd & Goal. This is what Fields provides, especially in the red area. Fields keeps the ball after reading the C gap player crashing. The Steelers run stick up top, which occupies the DBs, and it’s a walk-in TD for Fields. He is so, so dangerous with his legs, and this RPO should be a staple in Tanner Engstrand‘s Jets playbook.
I love this rep. I feel like throughout much of the time I have spent watching Fields, he is quick to scramble if the first read isn’t there. Here, he doesn’t panic after not liking the smash concept to the bottom. He gets out of the pocket, squares his shoulders – although it is still an off-platform throw – and launches a damn good one for an explosive to Pickens in a scramble drill.
For me, this is the type of processing stuff that is make or break for a QB in the NFL. This should be a 3-step, hitch-and-throw from Fields. Rip it with anticipation before he gets out of his break. The extra hitch is the difference in Pickens catching this ball past the sticks and before the sticks. Fields has to grow with the anticipation portion of his game. The processing and decisiveness are just a bit slow at times.
Coming soon, we will break down the second half of Fields’ 2024 season in Part 2!
