The Kansas City Chiefs finally solved the riddle of what to do while Patrick Mahomes recovers from his ACL injury, trading a 2027 sixth-round pick to the New York Jets in exchange for former first-round selection Justin Fields. The former Chicago Bears pick's second go-around as a starter with the Jets ended in a benching.
On paper, Fields makes a ton of sense. Still just 27 years old with premium athletic ability and a rocket launcher of an arm, Fields may be just one offensive scheme away from finally realizing his true potential. However, multiple teams have been bamboozled by that particular trick.
Fields may not be the worst backup quarterback option ever, but every Chiefs fan who is getting suckered in by his potential has a legion of scorned ex-lovers in Pittsburgh, Chicago, and New York warning them not to go down this path.
Justin Fields' potential has a way of drawing a team in only to let them down in the same, predictable ways.
Fields' ineptitude last season was staggering. Between only winning three games, amassing -10 net passing yards in a loss against the Denver Broncos, and failing to even top 50 net yards four times in seven starts, Fields was, in the truest sense of the word, unplayable.
The Jets, for all their missteps, provided him with a solid offensive line, a passing offense derived from the Detroit Lions' tree, and a solid running game (hello, Breece Hall!). He did nothing with those gifts, instead reverting to his worst habits of holding the ball too long and leaving big chunk plays on the table.
The Jets were a mess, as is par for the course, but that's not a valid excuse. There were dozens of times where receivers were streaking wide open down the field, and No. 7 just would not pull the trigger. His slow processing ability, an issue dating back to his Ohio State days, has been a critical flaw in his game. The Jets were a mess, in large part, because of Fields.
The Andy Reid bump will help Fields a little bit, but there are some flaws in his game that either won't be fixed in one offseason or will never come out at all. Chiefs fans will become the latest to destroy their own property in frustration, yelling some variation of "just throw it!" at their screens.
Fields will dazzle you, Chiefs fans. He'll go off on a crazy run, rip a deep post, and show all the flashes of the star player he was reported to be out of Ohio State. Andy Reid's magic may have done his thing as Fields looks more like the player he was in Pittsburgh.
Then reality will set in, and he'll misfire on an out route and take the worst sack you've ever seen. The odds of a Sam Darnold-like resurgence seem slim, and if Mahomes comes back earlier than anticipated, Fields may be rooted to the bench in a way that makes Brett Veach giving up an asset for a player who was assuredly going to be released look even odder.