Gang Green Nation
The Athletic recently sought out 50 coaches and executives to rank the quarterbacks in the NFL.
It doesn’t come as a major surprise, but Jets quarterback Justin Fields came in 27th.
Fields peaked among Tiers voters as a low 3 entering 2023. His average tier vote entering 2025 (3.74) is about what it was after his 2021 rookie season (3.72). The difference is that Fields has played enough to make it tougher for voters to envision meaningful growth.
“(The Jets) know who he is, what he is, and they are going to try to structure things for him,” an offensive coach said. “The problem is, the hardest thing to fix with a quarterback is keeping their eyes up the field, seeing the field and not being affected by the rush. And those are three of the worst things that he does.”
The Steelers started 4-2 with Fields in the lineup last season. They ranked 20th in offensive EPA per play to that point in the season, while ranking fifth in combined EPA on defense and special teams.
That formula could work for the Jets.
“This is another guy who, in the pure-pass world, you say probably not,” a head coach said, “but you put him in Tier 3 because he is the run game, probably, and then on top of that, the Jets are hopefully going to play good defense. If they put together an RPO play-action system, this guy could easily be a really positive thing for them.”
Fields’ ability to run and his limitations as a passer lock in the Jets for one style of play.
“At the end of the third quarter, you will be down 8-10 points,” another offensive coach said. “Great, you kept it close. Now, what?”
It’s tough to say any of this analysis of Fields is unfair. The reason Fields was available to the Jets this offseason is simply that he hasn’t done a good enough job through much of his career. His limitations are clear enough.
The question for me is whether the Jets can get enough improvement from Fields to make him a viable starter. He was the second highest rated quarterback in Tier 4.
A Tier 4 quarterback could be an unproven player (not enough information for voters to classify) or a veteran who ideally would not start all 17 games.
The Jets want to get the good from Fields more consistently and the bad less consistently. If Fields could get into Tier 3, it would be a major victory.
A Tier 3 quarterback is a legitimate starter but needs a heavier running game and/or defensive component to win. A lower-volume dropback passing offense suits him best.
