Fit for Justin Fields in New Bears Attack
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Calling Justin Fields a perfect fit for the offense new coordinator Luke Getsy brings to the Bears goes beyond presumptuous.
It would first be good to know more about Getsy's actual offense or that he can even be an NFL offensive coordinator, because he hasn't done it.
Besides that, can anyone even say for certain Fields can be a fit in any NFL offense after brilliance scattered throughout struggles during his rookie year?
Still, there is enough evidence of what Fields can do when given a chance. And Getsy's background is enough of an open book to know the general type of attack he'll deploy.
If you wed the two this season under Matt Eberflus in the 2022 season, it can look promising and here's why.
1. Mobility
Fields' scrambling can wipe away failed plays but a quarterback can't survive in the NFL by running around and sliding all the time. They invariably spend too much time on injured reserve.
However, what this Shanahan offensive system coming to the Bears does plenty of is get the quarterback just outside the pocket where he has a better view of a spread-out group of linebackers and defensive backs resulting from misdirection on bootlegs.
In recent years, there have been very few truly mobile passers operate this style of attack. For some reason, all of them seem to be pocket passers. Jimmy Garoppolo, Jared Goff, Matthew Stafford and Kirk Cousins are not totally immobile, but expecting one to beat Fields in a race would be fantasy.
Aaron Rodgers, Ryan Tannehill and Joe Burrow run versions of the offense and might be the most mobile doing it.
The attack seems perfectly suited to Rodgers' knack for getting outside the pocket and buying time with his feet until receivers get open on scramble drills well after the end of their routes.
San Francisco's Trey Lance might be an indicator of what to expect for Fields in this offense. Lance didn't really get to do it enough to make a judgment on how he'll eventually be in the attack as a starter, but when he played he got outside and threw downfield for big plays. He averaged a whopping 8.5 yards per attempt on just 71 throws with five touchdowns to two interceptions.
Fields outside the pocket, looking deep with his knack for throwing accurate deep balls has the ring of success. Under Matt Nagy, the Bears talked about this at times and occasionally used it, but never committed fully to this as a staple of the attack.
When Fields doesn't throw downfield, there is the wide-open look he can take advantage of with his speed far better than immobile passers can. When he has played in it enough, he'll also gain a better feel for when he can best use his speed and when there are receivers breaking free to be found instead of running with it.
There has been one instance of an extremely mobile passer getting to run the Shanahan style attack and it came very early in this attack's development, in Washington with RG III. If the Bears can keep Fields from running so much that he winds up injured like RG III, it will be fascinating to see what they can do with the run threat and the Shanahan style of offense.
2. Running Game
The Bears never had a consistently good running game under Nagy to counter their anemic passing. They dabbled at the run and even had sporadic breakout games against weaker defenses where they ran more. The Vikings often provided fodder for them in this regard.
Against better defenses, their line was never good enough to consistently block the run.
It's already been announced by new GM Ryan Poles that they must get the offensive line solidified. He has the background as a former lineman to know how it's done on this end.
The Shanahan offense is known for its wide zone blocking and it produces consistently good running teams. The 49ers are a good example. The Packers and Rams have been good running teams. Though not always necessarily atop the rushing standings, they have always had the ability to run when they wanted and needed to do it.
Put a potent running attack generated from wide zone blocking alongside Fields and he becomes all the more dangerous.
3. RPO
Getsy has more run-pass option influence than other Packers coaches because of a season he spent as offensive coordinator at Mississippi State. Also, he was a college quarterback.
Aaron Rodgers loved what Getsy brought to their offense.
The Bears' Kansas City offense was heavily RPO but it never really took off for several reasons. A main one was they never established consistency in the run aspect of RPO. This must occur. The only time they consistently ran in Nagy's offense after his first year was when they faced three straight weak defenses in 2020 and they had altered their offense to run more plays under center without relying on RPO as much.
In the NFL, blockers can't go more than a yard downfield. In college they can go 3 yards downfield and it's easier to disrupt defenses that way. Pro defenses bunch more in the area where the run in an RPO with inside zone blocking would likely come, or better athletes have the speed to get there if they aren't bunched. The inside zone scheme had too many defenders to overcome at the point of attack to open up the run. When the running back threat wouldn't work, the passing aspect of it also wouldn't. Why did it work for the Chiefs? They have an excellent offensive line Poles helped rebuild, and they also have the threat of Patrick Mahomes' unique ability to throw from all angles to all spots on the field.
Getsy has the advantage of knowing how to wed a running game with a different type of blocking scheme, the outside zone. Since he also knows RPO, it's safe to assume he also can find ways to get this to work with wide zone run blocks.
And the Bears have an offensive line coach now in Chris Morgan who has successfully run the Shanahan wide zone scheme.
They have a fighting chance of making this all work because the right people are in place both on the field and off it.
"One of the unsung heroes is coach Getsy," receiver Davante Adams told reporters in Green Bay.
4. Fields' Experience
No longer is Fields a rookie looking at many NFL defenses for the first time. The positive side of playing him 12 games as a rookie is that in Year 2 he is not going through seeing defenses at NFL speed for the first time. He should naturally be better at it now with familiarity even though he is in a new attack.
Add in scheme, an offensive coordinator who is going to build the attack around him to accentuate his skills rather than force him into a strictly predefined style of attack, and a running game as a side threat, and the potential for Fields' success looks higher.
Proving this on the field will be the challenge.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
