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He has a great reputation as a QB guru, but is he objective when talking about a client?
Highly-regarded QB coach, Quincy Avery, who trains a lot of QBs, like Justin Fields, feels the Jets are a “great situation” for Fields.
“This is a great situation for [Fields],” Avery told ESPN. “We all wanted it to work out for him in Chicago, for that to be a good situation where he could find success. We didn’t think he would be in that type of situation in Pittsburgh with him and [Russell Wilson] both there. Now, he’s got a chance to be part of building something new.”
Avery is a paid consultant to Fields.
Look, Fields could do great with the Jets, but how many times are we going to hear about him not being dealt a great hand in Chicago and Pittsburgh?
Was he dealt the best hand in Chicago? In some regards, probably not, but objective observers, will point out, even if the offensive line wasn’t elite, he caused some of the protection issues by holding the ball too long.
And objective observers will also point out that he wasn’t great at going through progressions, often fixating on his first read, sometimes telegraphing passes, leading to picks.
Those two issues have nothing to do with the hand he was dealt but his shortcomings, which you can’t blame him for, especially the issue with progressions. He was doing the best he could. Because, when it comes to field vision, sometimes you either have it or you don’t – it’s hard to teach.
Aaron Rodgers has it. Zach Wilson doesn’t.
Avery went on to specifically talk about Pittsburgh, where Fields went 4-2 as a starter before being replaced by Russell Wilson.
“He threw the ball well with the Steelers,” Avery said. “He just didn’t get that many opportunities to throw because they wanted a more conservative approach. He’ll get more opportunities now, which, hopefully, will help him put down some roots. We really hope so.”
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is a highly regarded coach.
Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is highly regarded as an offensive playcaller.
With Fields’ proclivity to turn the ball over in Chicago, they decided to take a very conservative approach with him.
And, to a degree, the QB perhaps felt he needed to take a conservative approach because he believed he would be pulled if he continued the turnover trend from Chicago.
He was pulled after six starts because the Steelers felt that Wilson would bring more juice to the passing game, which he did for a while, but then the offense faded late in the season.
But here is the bottom line people. It is simple.
Stop believing that Fields was a victim in Pittsburgh and Chicago.
Perhaps he wasn’t always dealt the best hand at times, but there are myriad things he needs to improve, and we will see if Jets QB coach Charles London and passing game coordinator Scott Turner can help this incredibly talented young player take his game to another level. His electrifying combination of great size (6-3, 227), speed (4.4 forty) makes him an enticing guy to work with.
But let’s stop with the victim angle, and also stop quoting paid consultants to players.
March 18, 2025
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