NFL mock draft 2021: Justin Fields, Trey Lance help make history
By Evan Bachman
3. Pick Analysis. QB. Ohio State. Justin Fields. 42. Scouting Report. player
After giving up two future first-rounders to move to this spot it’s obvious the 49ers are taking a quarterback, now it’s just a matter of which one. With Lawrence and Wilson extremely likely to go 1-2, it’s between Justin Fields, Trey Lance, and Mac Jones.
I’ve seen some NFL mock draft scenarios slot Lance or Jones here but I just have a hard time imagining that they pass on Fields. It’s been the latest media trend to sleep on Fields, but I honestly find some of the things people have been knocking him for a bit laughable and I think people have forgotten just how good of a prospect he really is.
His combination of arm strength, athleticism, and accuracy is enough to be the number one overall pick in some drafts.
The most common knock on Fields is that he throws to his first read too often and isn’t good when he can’t hit his progression. However, this stat from PFF Twitter says that Fields has the highest grade on throws past first read since 2019 among quarterbacks with at least 60 pass attempts, so that pretty much totally debunks that.
The other knock that I heard recently is that there are question marks about his work ethic and how much he wants to be a quarterback. I don’t know about everyone else, but I watched the Clemson game and I’d say anyone who can take a big hit to ribs, come back after one play, and fight through pain the rest of the game while lighting up one of the best defenses in the country shouldn’t have his determination to play quarterback questioned.
What is a valid knock on Fields however is his tendency to hold the ball way too long and take sacks. At Ohio State, he had way too many plays where he tried to be superman and make something out of nothing resulting in him taking a sack when he could have just thrown the ball away.
That is something he does need to work on, however, the bottom line is too many people are trying to nitpick Fields’ game and find flaws that aren’t there. The truth is his combination of arm strength, athleticism, and accuracy is enough to be the number one overall pick in some drafts.
His accuracy is to all levels of the field is pretty astounding. According to PFFhis adjusted completion of 80.8 % was the second-highest in all of college football last season.
He is also a terrific athlete as he ran a 40 faster than some DBs at his pro day with a time of 4.44. I’m excited to see what he can do as a runner in the NFL, as at Ohio State while he was a good runner, he often was banged up and didn’t get to showcase his abilities as a runner.
If Fields is the selection here, the 49ers are a team to look out for in the future. They have a lot of talent on the roster and a brilliant offensive mind in Kyle Shanahan.