The hot topic in the football world is whether Justin Fields will fall out of the top 10 or the NFL’s first-round entirely.
Could we see Justin Fields in a similar situation as Jalen hurts who was in the Heisman running but still managed to end up in the second round?
For the 2020 College football season, Ohio State QB Justin Fields accounted for 2,100 yards passing, 383 yards rushing, 22 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions ending the season with a 70.2 passing completion percentage. Though these stats do not seem entirely deserving of a first-round pick, it is important to note that Fields played through injury, a minimal off-season, and a diminished season due to the Coronavirus with only 8 games. Justin Fields is very impressive.
In Field’s college career he has amassed 2019 – 2020 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year honors, and #1 in passing touchdowns and passing yards in the Big Ten (2019, 20).
In his best season, he accounted for 3,273 yards, 41 touchdowns, and only 3 interceptions. The interest isn’t in his college career as it is where he’s going to land.
Below is the NFL’s drafting order. Many are projecting Fields to go the 49ers but some are also saying the Jets will take him.
3. San Francisco 49ers (from Miami Dolphins via Houston Texans)
6. Miami Dolphins (from Philadelphia Eagles)
10. Dallas Cowboys
Before I go into where I think Justin will go, I’ll take a short time to be transparent on his pros and cons:
- Justin is a big QB standing at 6’3 and weighing 228 pounds. This physically puts him in the space of Cam Newton. Fields has shown to be tough as many of the hits he’s taken over his college career would have any other QB reconsidering playing football again.
- Justin has zip on the ball. I’m not too particularly a fan of his throwing motion but the power and speed behind the ball is a thing of beauty.
- Justin is fast. On his pro day, he was able to kick up turf and get a 4.4 40 yard time.
- Now the cons. Justin sometimes gets lost in the sauce attempting to force throws that don’t have a lord’s prayer of being caught.
- There have been a few times where the offense hasn’t looked in sync and that could be blamed on both the coaching staff and Fields.
- Justin often looks down receivers. Learning the safety look-off could have helped Fields in his career immensely but instead, it made it that much harder as decent safeties were able to lock into his first read and make a play on the ball.
Here are my 3 options for Justin Fields:
- 49ers – The 49ers are looking for that oomph to get back into the Super Bowl. Their current QB Jimmy Garoppolo has had a lackluster 2020 season and was out with injury. This is coupled with the fact Jimmy has only played 1 full season with the 49ers after being absent mostly due to injuries. The 49ers are looking at a $26,382,352 cap hit for Jimmy G for 2021 (41, million guaranteed). If the 49ers want to take a chance on Justin, they would have to do so now so they can go all-in on him.
- Jets – Since the trade of Sam Darnold, the Jets have clearly announced to the football world that they’re posturing for a big-time QB. In my opinion, I believe the Jets take Zack Wilson in that he’s the more polished QB. Now, this isn’t to say that they won’t pick up Justin but Justin is still raw in some aspects.
- Patriots – New England, as it stands, have 10 picks in this upcoming draft. Now, Bill hasn’t been known to reach for QBs in the first round but they require a QB for the future. The days of finding a diamond in the rough may be over as teams are now using the draft picks to get a guy who can start day one. The Pats have Cam Newton for another year, and in my opinion, the Pats could be using Cam, as a test run for Fields.
Those are my 3 options for Justin Fields and yes I do believe that he will be drafted before the second round. Nothing is perfect and we know there is bound to be a drastic shake-up that’ll make the draft that more exciting.
Thanks for reading!!!
TheAwfulGuy
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