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If it were only this simple.
Former NFL QB E.J. Manuel feels that Justin Fields is going to do well with the Jets and here is why:
“I think Justin is at a point where he’s tired of people hating on him and he’s tired of people doubting him,” Manuel said on ESPN. “Also, you got a new head coach in Aaron Glenn, who’s going to have a vested interest in making sure Justin Fields has success. They’re going to create the offense around him and let him be him. … They’re going to get it right in New York with Justin Fields at QB.”
Manuel might be 100 percent on target.
2025 could turn out to be a renaissance for Fields.
Manuel is a wonderful guy, and a glass-half-full kind of person, which is great, but some of the theories being espoused here are perhaps a little too Pollyanna.
Playing QB in the NFL might be the hardest job in all of sports. Very few master it.
And unfortunately, “people hating on him” and ‘doubting him” probably can’t help a quarterback go through his progressions better or look off safeties more effectively.
Sadly, it doesn’t work that way.
Also, Aaron Glenn having a “vested interest in making sure Justin Fields has success” is another theory that might not be a magic pill for the player to turn things around.
Don’t you think that Chicago Bears head coaches Matt Nagy and Matt Eberflus had a “vested interest” in making sure Fields had success? Both got fired, and Fields had struggled under each.
As for them creating an offense that will “let him be him,” there is no doubt they are going to try and do that.
There are going to be a ton of RPO’s (run-pass options), bootlegs and quarterback sneaks. They are going to try to run the ball a ton with Breece Hall, Isaiah Davis and Braelon Allen. It will be a run first offense, and with an offensive line that looks outstanding on paper, they very well might be able to run the ball on a high level, which will take a ton of pressure off Fields to carry the offense, and also create some big windows to throw into thanks to play-action fakes.
This plan could work out great, but don’t you think Eberflus/Nagy and their offensive coordinators were trying to “create the offense around him and let him be him?”
You’d have to think so. They didn’t want to get fired.
But perhaps the Jets’ offensive line, which has the potential to be outstanding, will be much better than any front five Fields had protecting him at any point in his NFL career, and a line that will give him a running game like he’s never had before.
Look, Manuel could be spot on when he says, “They’re going to get it right in New York with Justin Fields at QB.”
While I try to offer critical analysis that seems a little negative sometimes, I’m just basing it on what we have seen leading up to the point.
The light bulb could come on for Fields this year and he could have a breakout season.
I’m just saying that playing QB in the NFL is so freakin hard with the complexities of the job, that being tired of people “hating on you” or “doubting you” isn’t necessarily going to fix your hard drive.
It’s going to be fascinating to see if Glenn’s leap of faith with Fields works out.
If the Jets offensive line is as good as many think it will be, the leap of faith could very well work out.
June 30, 2025
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