His template for this project is the one the Chiefs used with Alex Smith and Patrick Mahomes in 2017, when Nagy was the offensive coordinator under Andy Reid.
There are also examples of rookies — Justin Herbert and Baker Mayfield, just in the last few seasons — playing well right away.
“For him to be able to develop like that and learn from Alex and grow, he would probably tell you it was a pretty good thing,” Nagy said.
Dalton is a reasonable equivalent of Smith as the Bears try to replicate what the Chiefs did.
The Bengals spent nine seasons trying to figure out if Dalton was good enough and, after a collective 87.5 passer rating and zero playoff wins, they ultimately decided he wasn’t.
Even if everything goes their way this season, it’s hard to imagine them doing better than a wild-card spot with Dalton starting.
There’s still purpose, though, in Fields studying his every move over the next several months.
“How are you responding to making a good play throwing an interception, per se?” Nagy said, beginning a checklist of rookie lessons for Fields.
Justin, he’s got to see Andy’s cadence — what he’s doing with his voice inflection, the way he says ‘White 80,’ versus the way Justin says it at the line of scrimmage.
Nagy, DeFilippo, offensive coordinator Bill Lazor and various other assistants all have specific roles in the Fields project, as do Dalton and fellow veteran Nick Foles.
It’s why he slid from being the consensus second-best quarterback in college football to being the fourth one drafted, going to the Bears at No.
To hear one of his new coaches pile it on, even if he’s correct, was probably daunting.
“I’m trying to give him advice on certain things, how I would view certain plays, what I’d do with my eyes on certain things, different things that come with experience.
All of that information is useful for Fields, and he’s capable of learning from Dalton’s play without mimicking it.