Most fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers were ecstatic when in March it was announced the team had traded for Chicago Bears QB Justin Fields. Fields is a super-athletic young quarterback who over the course of three seasons has shown plenty of flashes, even if he has been inconsistent at times.
Despite trading for Fields, he currently looks in line to be the back up behind QB Russell Wilson, and one of the reasons for this could be his processing. Steelers beat reporter Mike DeFabo was on 93.7 The Fan today and said how the speed of the game is affecting Fields.
“I think if you go to training camp, one thing I would watch is seven shots,” said DeFabo. “And I would watch how Justin Fields processes the game. I think that right now he’s still working on processing the game more quickly, knowing his reads, getting to those reads more quickly. I think that just the speed of the game is definitely affecting him at this point. Now, that could change once they put on pads, and I think that’s where Justin Fields has an opportunity to maybe turn this into a competition. He should get an extended run in preseason games, and I think that’s when his athleticism and his arm really show off.”
Despite Fields’ incredible athleticism and arm strength, he still is late on his reads and doesn’t always make the right decisions. While Fields is still young at only 25 years old, and he played on a Bears team that did little to help him, hearing that in Year Four he still has processing issues is concerning. If Fields has a hard time reading defense and is even just a second or two late on his reads, it will be so hard for him to reach the potential he has as a quarterback.
As Steelers Depot’s own Alex Kozora pointed out, however, Fields certainly has his strengths. His ability to extend plays and make something out of nothing is something Pittsburgh hasn’t had since the early 2010s with a younger Ben Roethlisberger. Throw in the ability Fields has with his legs and now the Steelers have a true dual-threat quarterback on their hands. In the modern NFL with RPO’s being in every team’s playbook and used very often, this creates a whole new dimension to the Steelers offense.
DeFabo did say things could be different when the pads come on with Fields, and football is notably played in pads. Working out in shorts and a jersey isn’t what games look like come the regular season or even preseason. But, things also move much faster when pads are on and Fields will have to show he can avoid pass rushers in the preseason, something he has not had to do yet this season. This likely will make processing harder, and if Fields is already having a hard time processing that sounds like a bad omen for the season.
Yet, Fields has still been able to put the ball in the end zone. In 13 games last year, Fields threw 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also ran for four touchdowns as well. The lack of production for the Steelers quarterback position last year was starting with 13 total touchdown passes from the room last season.
If Fields ends up playing at all this season the Steelers will need his processing to improve from Chicago and from what we are hearing so far this offseason. If it does, Fields can be a very good quarterback. If not, Fields will continue to be a frustrating players who oozes talent and shows flashes but just can’t put it together consistently enough to be a starter in the NFL.
