I think Justin Fields was the best they could have done under the circumstances. Those being years of swings and misses at the QB position by past regimes coupled with a very weak QB draft and free agent class. An NFL starting QB while certainly flawed is still young with potential, has shown growth as a passer, and is a dynamic runner. There's some evidence you can win with him as a starter. It gives them a chance to be competitive and a glimmer of hope that he can end up being a longer term answer (while probably unlikely).
Guys, I implore you to watch each game of Fields performance last year when you get some time via all 22 with the analysis by really reputable people: https://forums.theganggreen.com/thr...ns-news-and-rumors.100737/page-6#post-4443856 But if you cannot do all, watch this one. This is the game that basically got him benched. That was the the 5th game. He started one more, but that game they scored 32 points and easily won, I think the decision to bench Fields was made after game 5 against Dallas. The game below. He had his lowest % completion of the season, lowest ypa, second lowest yards, second lower points, and they lost a home game. I would say his worst game of the year objectively. This is not a highlight tape I am asking you to watch. And yet when you analyze it, it was still pretty decent performance. Yes, he could have dome some things better, but overall a lot of critical drops a lot of throws with a defender on his lap and a lot of good from Fields. You could see how good his arm is too. And he still gave them 4 point lead with 5 mins left, but the defense could not hold up as Cowboys ate up all but 20 secs and scored a GW TD. He is a good QB now, and there is a lot to work with there, and I expect him to get better. Slam dunk signing by Mooge and AG.
What I would suggest to people is just ignore the CAP # completely and look at cash flow. CAP can be manipulated, carried over, and is not a representation of how much a player's getting paid. Fields will make 20 mil in 2025. That's all you need to know as far as his cost. Depending on the season they will decide to take more or less CAP as they wish. But Fields' 2025 # is 20 mil. I think this makes him 21st highest paid QB in NFL, and if you take out rookie deals, which are fixed, he is one of the least paid starting veteran QBs if not the least. This is a fair deal for Fields. Maybe more than fair as Daniel Jones just got 14 as a likely back-up who can push Richardson, and I would hate to have Jones instead with only 6 mil in savings. We got a real QB on the roster now who did better than Rodgers last year in 6 games he played, and will likely be even better in 2025. We got an upgrade at QB with potentially a sizable upgrade. And Rodgers wasn't that bad, much better than what we had before. Yet we were able to improve. And again it is not just me saying it, QBR and passer ratings suggest that as well. Granted he only played 6 games, and the jury is out whether he can be good all year, but as the tape showed he was very consistently good all 6 games, he improved, and there should be a lot of legitimate optimism going forward. And we did not break the bank for him either.
You think the Mannings would allow him to come here? I can envision him doing what Eli did to the Chargers in 2004 if the Jets are in that position.
I thought Fields was improving in Chicago in 2023 when I watched. I felt he improved even more in Pittsburgh last year, although they clearly just wanted him to manage games. He did not take too many risks. Tomlin chose to go to Russell Wilson out of respect for Russell. The Jets helped him to keep the job by handing him a win on Sunday Night Football. If you remember how that game started, I really thought they would go to Fields in the 2nd Half. Rodgers threw that embarrassingly unacceptable interception before halftime and the rest is history. Fields ends up a Jet, Rodgers likely a Steeler. That’s how close things can be and single moments can change things in the NFL. Great league.
Can you flesh this out a bit? What is it about Mougey, Glenn and Spielman, for starters, that makes you question their competence and what about their attitudes do you have a problem with?
Hmmm. Do you think that maybe Mougey should have been compared to other GM possibilities? And maybe in addition to Johnson and Glenn including a couple of your favorites might have painted a better picture to support your contentions?
Borat - I don’t know if you know fields personally or something, but making extremely hyperbolic statements like “he is a slam dunk signing;” “he did better than Rodgers last year;” and “he is a good qb” is really weird. By no metric is he considered a good qb, and it’s not arguable. The most he’s thrown for in a season is 2,500 yards. He barely throws touchdown passes. He’s been given starting opportunities by two different franchises and failed in both. He’s never won a game where his defense gave up 20 points or more. I could go on and on here. I don’t know why you’re trying so hard to push this narrative, it’s really odd how unobjective you’re being here. None of your statements are true at this time.
Au contraire, mon ami. Now is a great time for the players to be out exploring so they don't feel any need to do it when they should all be trying to pull a team together.
But quite a bit cheaper than keeping your boy Aaron as the bridge and there was hardly a chance at all for him to be anything but that.
It's not a long term commitment and there are some great QB prospects in the 2026 draft so if it doesn't work then there is always that hope to hang on to (and given our schedule this year I can see us having a very high draft pick).
If I hear one more pundit or YouTube podcaster say Fields is inaccurate or fundamentally can’t throw the ball I might lose it. If one actually watch the film like the example above, it’s obvious that his issue is that he processes slower than one would want and doesn’t always trust what he sees. As a result, he ends up being late on throws. Each year his processing has gotten incrementally better. I bet it would be significantly better if he didn’t have to keep learning new a new offense every year but that has been the hand the football gods have dealt. Early on in his career Geno Smith used to struggle with the same thing, playing on time. He ultimately figured it out once he got to a stable environment. I think Pittsburgh was providing Fields that same stability and the results were looking promising. It’s unfortunate that came to an abrupt end. Hopefully, AG, Engstrand and company can help him pick up where he left off continuing that upward trajectory.
No I don't know Fields personally, but how can you say by no metric he is upgrade over Rodgers, when literally by both most popular metrics (QBR and passing ratings) he IS an upgrade over Rodgers. And both teams (Jets and Pitts) wanted Fields over Rodgers. I have watched every snap of Rodgers this year and now analyzed all 22 of Fields (see above posts) of all but 1 game. Again, take a look at his worst game this year, which I posted above and tell me you still think he is bad. And again, this is not a highlight game, this was the worst game. Watch the game, it's only half hours analysis, and let's talk, you tell me then if I am objective or not.
Ironically, it was box score hoeing like this which caused the Jets to pass on Josh Allen for Sam Darnold. Thus allowing Bills fans to lecture Jets fans on Jets message boards. We’ve come full circle.
Justin Fields last 17 games 9 W 8 L Passing 3241 YDS 19 TDS 7 INTS 63% CMP Rushing 884 YDS 8 TDS Not great but not horrible. We could do a lot worse.
This is true & needs to be corrected. There were 5 actual fumbles lost in that 17 games span and a bunch of others where the offense recovered.
Anytime someone drops a "fart reference" I always crack a smile. Love potty humor! If Fields had small hands I'd be worried about the fumbles. He doesn't so I'm not. Fumbles is a fundamental that can be COACHED. It'll be interesting to see if we have some honest to goodness COACHES on the team this year. Fields is guilty of what ALL running QB's are guilty of, running like they have a loaf of bread in their hands. I hate that shit. TWO hands on the ball!! If you're getting ready to run then that "baby" needs to be tucked away! If I were Aaron Glenn I would, secretly, put out a bounty. Anyone who can knock the ball out of Fields hand, anywhere in the facility, gets some kind of reward and Fields has to do some kind of punishment. By end of camp I'll bet you couldn't pry the ball from Fields hands with a "jaws of life." No school like the "old skool!" You know, this is the kind of shit that teams do that really pisses me off. Do NOT draft a damn QB then turn around and stuff new OC's up his ass on an annual basis. The Jets are HIGHLY guilty of this bullshit and it drives me bat shit crazy. Like it isn't hard enough making the jump to the NFL, some teams are simply UNSTABLE and shouldn't be drafting QB's because they are so chaotic. Just crazy...
All I take away from the last few pages of talk around being for or against Fields is that we collectively go into 2025 with low expectations. That is the best kind of set up for some of us who have been constantly let down by Jets teams that should have been better. Let's stay out of the spotlight and build something. If he flops, we aren't tied to him. Sure the Rodgers contract will be something we need to sit on but blame Douglas/Woody/Saleh/Ubrich/Hackett for that. Not the new regime
Exactly! Hopefully, this means no more prime time or nationally televised games. If we suck, we can suffer so quietly amongst ourselves at 1:00 PM EST every Sunday.
