Justin Fields is well on his way to establishing himself as a promising young quarterback in the NFL. The talent is so obvious every time he steps on the field. It isn’t hard to understand why the Chicago Bears are excited about him. What many experts still can’t figure out is how he ended up there in the first place. How did a kid with that kind of obvious potential coming from a top program at Ohio State not go in the top 10?
While a number of teams had the motivation to consider him that high, none stood out more than the Denver Broncos. They’d been bedeviled by quarterback problems ever since Peyton Manning retired. Drew Lock has not looked great the past two years and their trade for Teddy Bridgewater didn’t lead many to think the problem was solved. When new GM George Paton had Fields fall right into his lap on draft night at #9 overall?
He chose Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II instead.
When asked about it in subsequent weeks, the Broncos danced around the question. They just felt more comfortable with Surtain. They didn’t want to take the risk on a quarterback. Smart money says though that details would come out sooner or later. Sure enough, they came courtesy of NFL insider Charles Robinson. He and fellow Yahoo expert Eric Edholm spoke about the situation and some newfound insight was shared.
“When I went through Denver, I had a chance to have a really long conversation with someone about Fields. And I said why? What was the reason? Why did you pass on this guy? And he said, ‘Look, it wasn’t the talent.’ He said, ‘We really liked the talent a lot.’ He was like, ‘It was the medical.’
And he just said, look, the epilepsy. The concern about it was, when they kind of got down to the root of it, I said, it was controlled at Ohio State. They said, yes, but the concern is the amount of risk that is there the day you draft him versus what’s there 10 years down the line is the same. It never dissipates. He’s like, there’s no way to change what the element of risk is.”
Information emerged about Fields’ epilepsy prior to the draft. He never tried to hide it. The condition is one he’s dealt with since childhood. During that time there is no recorded instance of him suffering an epileptic episode in games or even during practice. This was made clear throughout the process. Yet this revelation from Denver suggests a lot of teams weren’t willing to take the risk. Chicago was.
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Justin Fields is hardly the first NFL player with this condition
Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers guard Alan Faneca had it and he played a much more physical position than quarterback. So did New York Giants star running back Tiki Barber. If they can get through a full NFL career without any episodes, why can’t Fields? Experts who have spoken on the subject indicated that as long as he takes his medication as instructed and avoids other potential causes like sleep deprivation? He should be just fine.
In fact, studies have shown no discernable increased risk for somebody in a contact sport. There is a real possibility that symptoms of Justin Fields’ condition will ease and even disappear as he gets older. It feels like epilepsy was such a buzzword it immediately invoked the worst images for many teams. There is no doubt the condition can be scary. However, all signs point to the quarterback never having let it impact his career.
In a weird way, that fear enabled the Bears to land their guy.
It’s fair to wonder if Fields would’ve fallen had the epilepsy thing not been a factor. Probably not. This goes to show how crazy the draft process can get. Every little thing is factored in. Especially with quarterbacks. If it’s not perfect in the minds of the guy making the final decision? Then he isn’t going to pull the trigger. That is what happened with the Broncos.
