@Les Grossman 's point was valid, imo.
It's much easier to play QB now than it was 15-20 years ago.
In Manning's rookie year, a QB rating of 80 was considered average. That's pretty bad by today's standards. And as a rookie, Manning was 8.8 off the average.
In today's NFL, a QB rating of 90 would probably be considered average, and Fields is 16.8 off that mark.
As anther comparison.... in Brees' first year starting, only 4 QBs finished that season with a QB rating of over a 90. This year, there are 21 QBs that are over a 90.
Today, young QBs are expected to produce quickly and teams don't hesitate to move on from a 1st round QB pick of theirs if they don't show dramatic improvement by year two. When you look at the QBs that have been drafted in the first round over the last several years, there have been a few that didn't even last longer than two years: Johnny Manziel, Paxton Lynch, Josh Rosen, and Dwayne Haskins. Some made it past two years, but they're no longer with the team that drafted them, like Sam Darnold and Blake Bortles. Hell, even some guys who looked like they had potential (Winston and Mariota) wound up as backups on other teams, and guys who looked GOOD like Wentz and Goff are playing elsewhere because they weren't cutting it any longer.
I'm not saying Fields will fail... Obviously, there are examples of guys (albeit not many) over the last several years who have struggled in year one and wound up being just fine. BUT, I guess I
am saying that, based on recent history in the NFL, if Fields doesn't have a decent jump next year, he's likely to be gone. Especially if we get a new GM and coach... because, well, Fields wasn't their guy. He was Nagy's and Pace's. So if he struggles again, they may very well hit the reset button and start over with "their" guy.