Justin Fields falling to #11 in the draft was one of the biggest surprises of the entire weekend. Here’s a quarterback everybody had as the #2 guy at his position in all of college football behind Trevor Lawrence. Then despite making it to the national championship game, teams somehow talked themselves out of him enough to where both Zach Wilson and Trey Lance ended up going ahead of him.
How did that happen? The draft process in general happened. It has always been an imperfect system but one thing that always makes it terrible? The rise of unfounded criticisms. In this case, there were two that came out on Fields that seemed to cool his stock just enough to drop him out of the top 10. One was concerns about his work ethic, which was shot down almost immediately by coaches and teammates as ridiculous.
Then there was the primary issue. That he doesn’t go through progressions.
Anybody who understands the basics of quarterbacking knows that the best ones have to be able to distribute the football. That means sometimes having to go beyond their first read which will inevitably be covered from time to time. The best ones can do this with clockwork precision without having to slow down their process. Many felt Fields didn’t do this enough at Ohio State. At least to warrant going earlier than he did.
Unsurprisingly, actual data has since torpedoed that criticism straight to the bottom of the sea. Benjamin Solak of The Draft Network decided to put this to bed once and for all. In an excellent column, he compiled a chart of every top QB in the draft and how they performed past their first reads. Not only did Fields do it more often than anybody else, but he also did it better than anybody else.
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This is more proof the Bears got so lucky with Justin Fields
If this madness hadn’t taken place between January and April to hamper his draft stock, there is no way Chicago would’ve been able to get high enough to draft him. A quarterback of his talent level has no business going outside the top 5. Let alone the top 10. What happened three months ago shouldn’t have. Yet it did and for once it was the Bears who benefitted from such a twist of fate.
Does this automatically mean Justin Fields will be a star? No. The NFL doesn’t work that way. Other things still need to go right. Fields needs to grasp the speed of the pro level. Most importantly the Bears need to surround him with proper help. Good protection and enough weapons to make some serious noise. That said, from a pure talent perspective. This kid is the best quarterback they’ve drafted in their franchise history.
There is nothing he can’t do.
He can throw deep. He can run as fast as any wide receiver and he can play the position as a veteran would. Going through progressions was a challenge he cleared long ago. People just didn’t bother to notice. It is another sign that this young man is determined to be something special in this league.
