Justin Fields has been an extremely challenging film study for me.
The offense that Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith implemented for him was extremely basic, and at times, I really felt like Pittsburgh could have used his legs more. He was rarely asked to get through full read progressions, and if he was, he was not quick enough as a processor to do it effectively.
I do wonder if the late decision to start Fields was an issue I have overlooked. Pittsburgh’s offense looked simplistic, but maybe the scheme was catered to Russell Wilson’s strengths, which couldn’t be much more different than Fields’ strengths. It is always hard to know the full story as an outsider.
I imagine that if Fields was the Steelers’ starting quarterback going into the season, he and Smith would have had extensive meetings about the offense that Smith wanted to run, and what Fields was most comfortable with from that. There are too many reps where things move too fast for Fields, or where it seems like he is not trusting what he is seeing. That shows a massive disconnect between the offensive play caller and the QB.
Every time Fields hears a play call from Smith, he should know the intent of the play, the issues that could arise, and the built in answers for said issues. Again, to me, this was rarely ever the case. In the pure dropback passing game, if often felt as if there was some sort of disconnect between OC and QB, hence why the benching likely came.
After breaking down Fields’ first three starts with the Steelers, let’s dive into Fields’ film over his final three starts before he was benched.
Justin Fields 2024 Film (Weeks 4-6)
Fields tends to hang onto the football. He stays on first reads/sides of the field for too long and has shown some poor pocket awareness/feel. That is not the case here.
Fields hits the top of his drop, feels the pressure around his blindside, and steps up. I feel like he could have reset his base outside the pocket to make the throw easier for himself, but he shows off the arm talent with an absurd arm angle, and throws an across the body dot to Pat Freiermuth. He has this playmaking ability. It just doesn’t show up consistently enough.
Perfect example of Fields’ internal clock not being quick enough. The Steelers run double slants mirrored on both sides against quarters coverage. Both outside guys are open, but Fields takes a one-step drop and stays locked in on the slant from the slot. He doesn’t hit the checkdown in time, and by the time he tries to abort, it’s too late, as the pocket closes on him and he takes the sack. What is the read?
This is also with under 30 seconds left in the first half, mind you. He cannot afford to eat the sack there. With the alignment of the defense, I wish he felt the soft corner up top and got to that second; who knows how it’s taught, though.
You would hope that Fields has the awareness to try and escape outside the pocket rather than walk into the sack here. Is anything open? No, but he just runs right into the defender when there is a lane for him to extend outside the pocket. Really poor feel.
Now this is more like it. Fields hits the top of his drop, the first read is covered, his second read is coming open on the crosser, but he feels internal pressure and escapes. He keeps his eyes down field, resets his base, and hits George Pickens in stride for a massive gain.
Still, this play highlights the hit-or-miss nature of Fields’ game. If he diagnosed Cover 2 right away post-snap, he would probably like to hit Pickens on the bender in the middle (void of cover 2), and could anticipate and throw him open rather than on the scramble drill, but alas.
Fields only completed 6-of-19 deep ball attempts in 2024, but I thought the film was better than that. With the FS aligned to the trips, he knows he has Pickens singled up on a go ball. Fields delivers a good enough ball on his back shoulder for a huge gain. The rhythm is big, 3 step, shuffle, ball out. When he plays on time (somewhat rare), it usually yields a positive result.
4th and 10, down three with less than one minute left in the game – this is just not it on multiple levels. Hank concept with three curls at the sticks, and the effort from Pickens (wide left) is beyond pathetic. Fields hits the top of his drop and no one is open. He gets antsy in a clean pocket and tries to make a play, so he throws it up and it is almost picked, although the game is over either way. Terrible operation all around here.
Power PA pass here. This is an example of Fields not having the touch on deep balls at times. I would like to see him to put touch on this, and give Darnell Washington a chance. Overthrowing is the worse thing possible here; underthrow and you can always get PI! Both of Fields’ cleats are in the ground, he has a strong base, and his front foot is towards his target. He just does not good touch on the ball, which would likely be an upper body problem mechanic-wise.
Panic sack against 1-high man on 3rd and 8. Ideally, when Fields hits the back foot here on his five-step drop, he can drive the ball to #88. Instead, Fields panics and tries to escape up the pocket, but it’s too congested. I would love for him to hang in here and deliver the ball with anticipation to #19 or #88 when he hits the top of his drop. It feels like his eyes never get to either of them; it looks like he is fixated on the deep safety/middle route for the whole dropback, but who knows.
Mesh concept here. I like that Fields diagnoses zone and looks to have his eyes on the underneath coverage. He drives the ball really nicely to the OTB route, which is a good route to hit on mesh vs. zone. It looks like some good processing (although hard to tell where his eyes are) and decisiveness.
The Steelers’ concepts through five games were pretty simple, and that could be an indictment on what they felt Fields could run or the offense that Smith just preferred.
Fields sees 1-high; it looks like a mirrored inside sticks and outside fade/outs based on leverage. Fields reads this perfectly, taking the shot on the press man route on the outside. He takes three steps, hitch and ball is out. Beautiful back-shoulder deep ball, as Fields reads the leverage of the DB perfectly. Unfortunately, you can’t catch it for him. One of my favorite reps from Fields.
Now this is how you get benched. Off play action, Fields reads from the drift route, to the corner route, to the checkdown. Fields says no to the drift, but the corner is open and he’s looking at it. He decides to check it down.
That is what I originally thought. Upon speaking with people smarter than me, it was made clear to me that asking your QB to go from drift to corner on a play-action read is irresponsible as a play caller timing-wise. I don’t blame Fields for not pulling the trigger. He is already slow as a processor and you see that here, but the timing to rip that corner is incredibly tough for any QB.
Tough three-play stretch of poor accuracy from Fields in his last game before being benched. On the first and third plays, he does a solid job navigating pressure and getting out of the pocket, but we’re talking about not even remotely close on those throws outside of the pocket.
To wrap up the review, we have as blatant of an interception as you could throw. This is not even a processing thing; the vision here is basically as if he’s throwing blind. I truly have no idea how he does not see the MLB here. Luckily for Fields, this play got wiped off his record due to a roughing the passer penalty.
I am not entirely sure what to make of Fields’ film. It’s certainly not good; I cannot ignore how many mistakes he made that are fundamental to the game of football.
Do I feel encouraged about Fields’ outlook in 2025? No. Would I be surprised if Tanner Engstrand created a scheme/system that Fields was able to play “fine” in? Also no!
Who knows what is going to happen, but overall, the Jets have their work cut out for them in getting Fields to a better place.
