The New York Jets made the wise decision to move on from Aaron Rodgers and a toxic culture this offseason. The new starting quarterback will be Justin Fields, who inked a two-year contract in free agency worth $40 million. Fields differs from Rodgers in a variety of ways.
The two quarterbacks couldn’t be more different from play-style and leadership perspectives. Fields (26) is 15 years younger than Rodgers (41). The Jets’ new starter is also a dual-threat signal-caller who extends the pocket via athleticism. Rodgers is a precise gunslinger who prefers to run a rhythm-and-timing offense.
The Jets’ offensive line must particularly get used to the difference. Protecting a mobile quarterback like Fields is significantly different from protecting a pocket-passing QB like Rodgers. There’s tons of analytical evidence out there that captures the Rodgers’ and Fields’ differing approaches.
A major one is time-to-throw. Rodgers ranked sixth in that department last season, averaging a time of 2.69 seconds from snap-to-throw, according to Next Gen Stats. The only full-time starting quarterback who had a quicker trigger was rookie Jayden Daniels at 2.68 seconds. The others were Tua Tagovailoa, Will Levis, Cooper Rush, and Andy Dalton, all of whom played sparingly.
Meanwhile Fields ranked fourth-worst among qualifying quarterbacks, averaging a time-to-throw of 3.04 seconds. Only Sam Darnold (3.08), Jalen Hurts (3.13), and Lamar Jackson (3.14) were slower on the trigger. It’s no surprise to see fellow mobile quarterbacks Hurts and Jackson on that list.
The offensive line must adjust accordingly. Returning lineman like John Simpson, Alijah Vera-Tucker, and Joe Tippmann must alter their blocking approach as required. It’s probably for the best that young offensive tackle Olu Fashanu didn’t play much with Rodgers, earning 534 snaps as a rookie. Rookie right tackle Armand Membou is starting from scratch.
Fields really couldn’t be more different than Rodgers.
This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: Next Gen Stats: Jets must get used to Justin Fields’ time-to-throw