The New York Jets are starting to realize what the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Chicago Bears and the Georgia Bulldogs already know about Justin Fields. Ohio State Buckeyes fans would beg to differ, but Fields is only ever going to be as good as the talent around him allows for him to be. When push comes to shove, he is not going to read a defense, and he is going to scramble.
In the latter stages of the preseason, Jets fans are starting to wonder if Fields is ever going to throw the football like they envisioned. Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic touched on this over the weekend. This may be a newfound revelation for Gang Green, but Yinzers, Chicagoans and to some degree Dawg Nation already knows this. Fields will only win at this level if he can lean on the running game.
Frankly, there is a chance this could work for defensive-minded head coach Aaron Glenn. When the Jets are at their best, they run the ball effectively and play some great defense. In a way, that is how Fields can be the franchise savior the Bears and Steelers thought he would be for them. If not, then Jets fans will see why Fields could not beat out Jake Fromm at Georgia and transferred to Ohio State.
What we have seen out of Fields thus far is why Mike Tomlin would not invest in the guy long-term.
Passing on Justin Fields because of his passing abilities seems justified
Look: If ball control and great defense is how the Jets plan to win games this season for Glenn, then bless his heart. Doing that may have worked when he starred for the Jets as a player way back in the day, but you are effectively capping yourself at maybe a 10-win ceiling, assuming you have a Derrick Henry-type bell-cow in the backfield, which the Jets do not. Curtis Martins just do not grow on trees.
In this day and age, you need a starting quarterback to separate and elevate on the field of play. Tomlin is betting on an older and stranger Aaron Rodgers to be the guiding beacon of light for the Steelers offense this year. He could be proven right, just like he was proven right in letting Fields walk to the Jets in NFL free agency. I wish Fields the best of luck in New York, but it might be all for naught.
In the end, the Jets had a golden opportunity to take second place for their own behind Buffalo in the AFC East race and blew it well before takeoff. I do not trust Miami like a dolphin out of water, so by default, I am getting behind New England for that designation. At least with New England, they are letting Drake Maye grow and develop as a passer, as opposed to trying to win games without him.
The Jets should have drafted a quarterback in the first round instead of taking Armand Membou, but instead they might be stuck for the next couple of years with Fields frustrating them in all the ways he's frustrated every other team so far in his career.