Five Wide: 2025 Week Seven

Here lies the career of Justin Fields. Far too short and far sad for anyone who put the time into diving into the QB class of 2021. At the time, I had him as the 2nd best quarterback of that group. As a side note, that has to be the most disappointing crop of players in recent history. Not worst, I’m not saying that. Disappointing. Have any of them lived up to their vaunted potential? Lawrence is the best of the lot and he’s nowhere near the level we expected him to hit. Zach Wilson and Trey Lance are back ups for the Chargers and the Dolphins respectively. Mac Jones is doing ok right now, but his time as a starter in San Francisco probably ends once Purdy’s foot starts working again. Horrible.

But this is about Justin Fields. A man I repeatedly banged the table for the Falcons to take 4th overall in 2021. They did not, instead taking Kyle Pitts (another conversation for another day). Fields landed in Chicago, where he managed to play 3 seasons before being binned off in favour of Caleb Williams. His time in Pittsburgh last season was interesting because he was effectively a placeholder for Russell Wilson. He’s ended up on the worst team in the league, and is contributing to their plight in a big way.

They’re 0-7, that’s the headline. But he’s looked alright in spells. Unfortunately the bulk of those spells came in week one. Since then, he’s started 3 separate games where he’s failed to register more than 50 passing yards. Over the past fortnight, he’s managed a total of 91 passing yards across 2 games. He’s not turned the ball over, but he’s simply not throwing the ball.

And, look, there are other factors at play. The Jets’ offensive line gives whoever’s under centre roughly half a seconds worth of protection. They have one professional receiver, himself incapable of catching the ball regularly. Tyrod Taylor replaced him against the Panthers and, while he managed to eclipse Fields’ total yardage over the past 2 games, threw 2 interceptions himself. The Jets are a bad situation for any quarterback to step into, let alone one throw from pillar to post since they were drafted.

It feels like Fields’ time as a starter in the NFL has come to an end before he was ever really given the opportunity to become one. He’ll likely bounce around as a back up for the next few years, stepping into for designed QB runs as an when. He might even end up in Atlanta after all, and bring that story full circle. But the odds of a Darnold-like career revival seem slim. A real shame. We’ll always have my Madden 22 save, Justin.