Justin Fields already among NFL league leaders in a bad stat

Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields wants to lead the league in a lot of categories at some point, but certainly never these ones.

The Chicago Bears traded a lot to move up and get quarterback Justin Fields out of Ohio State in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Fields was considered a contender for the top five selections overall by many analysts and pundits, but ultimately three teams in need of quarterbacks in the top five had players graded higher.

The Jacksonville Jaguars obviously took Trevor Lawrence first overall.

The New York Jets selected Zach Wilson.

The San Francisco 49ers traded up and took Trey Lance.

Justin Fields’ fall lasted to the 11th overall pick where the desperate Chicago Bears traded up. Why were the Bears desperate? Why have you chosen violence with this post?

Justin Fields struggling badly early on

The Bears’ brain trust of Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy is on borrowed time because they somehow figured out ways to make the playoffs with Mitch Trubisky at the quarterback position. If they could make it with Trubisky, surely then they could get there in the near future with a player of Fields’ caliber.

However, nobody stopped to think about why Fields fell in the first place.

Why did the Atlanta Falcons pass? Why did the Philadelphia Eagles pass? The Carolina Panthers? Denver Broncos? Heck, even the New York Giants, who have one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the NFL, were the team that traded the pick to Chicago.

At any rate, getting Justin Fields at pick 11 overall was a huge coup for the Bears, even if the selection doesn’t wind up working out. That is the kind of risk you have to take for a player who showed as well as Fields did at Ohio State.

Still, the question of why he fell in the draft is an intriguing one and we may not know that until after his career is long finished.

What we do know?

Fields has struggled worse than any other rookie quarterback in 2021, and it’s been a year full of struggle for those young players, to be certain.

Although each of the five first-round picks in this year’s class has had some measure of success early on (and Trey Lance isn’t yet starting), they’ve also had their fair share of struggles.

Justin Fields, given his limited sample, has had a really unfortunate start.

Before we talk about the really bad statistical categories Fields finds himself in, it should be noted — the Bears’ offensive line is not good. It’s hard to accurately say that Matt Nagy has really put Fields in a great position to succeed. The Cleveland Browns (Chicago’s latest opponent) has an outstanding defense.

With that being said…

Justin Fields has played 51 percent of the Bears’ offensive snaps this season, so it’s not like he’s only been in for mop-up duty.

He has just one start, but he already has 7.7 percent of the league’s sacks taken when holding the ball 4.5 seconds or longer.

For a player that was known for his ability to get out of the pocket and make plays, that shows an alarming inability to pull the trigger.

Fields has been sacked 11 times and has 35 pass attempts so far this year. He’s holding the ball way too long and again, it’s not all his fault. It doesn’t seem like Matt Nagy is running an offense best suited for Fields’ skills. It also is notable that the Bears’ offensive line is bad.

Just to make sure it’s understood that we get it.

It’s very early, but 11 sacks, an interception, and a fumble on 92 snaps with a 40 percent completion rate and a QB rating of 39.9?

Welcome to the NFL, Justin Fields.