Justin Fields being judged unfairly leading up to 2021 NFL Draft

Quarterback is the most important position on a football team, and every year, they get prioritized in the NFL Draft. The 2021 NFL Draft is no different, with Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Justin Fields, Trey Lance, and Mac Jones all projected to be top-15 draft picks. However, one of these quarterbacks is being treated far differently than the other four. It’s Justin Fields.

Whenever there is a conversation about the top quarterbacks in the 2021 NFL Draft, people have glowing reviews of every quarterback, but there are many people out there who refuse to do so with Justin Fields. Trevor Lawrence is the perfect prospect, Zach Wilson is the next great gunslinger, Trey Lance has impeccable tools and is primed to be a star, Mac Jones is uber-intelligent and accurate; but Justin Fields, he processes slowly.

People like to bring up how accurate Mac Jones is, but fail to mention that Justin Fields is the most accurate passer in the 2021 NFL Draft class. People talk about Zach Wilson and his out-of-structure success but fail to mention Justin Fields’ ability to rip 60-yard touchdown throws without a hitch. People talk about Justin Fields being in a quarterback-friendly offense but fail to realize that Justin Fields gained the least percentage of yards from RPOs, an offensive scheme that makes reads easier.

Justin Fields a phenomenal QB prospect

Now, this is not an article to say that Fields does not come without flaws, because his processing does appear slow at times. This is an article, however, to say that when you are focusing on Fields’ deficiencies, you are completely ignoring the parts of his game that make him special. Odds are, this article won’t sway your opinion on Fields, but hopefully, you will look at Fields and see that he can be all the things the other quarterback prospects are.

He has the accuracy that people praise Mac Jones for; he has the gunslinging ability that people love Zach Wilson for; he has the physical tools that people believe in Trey Lance for. If he can clean up his processing, he is a lot closer to Trevor Lawrence than he is to whoever QB3 is.

In closing, Justin Fields is a phenomenal quarterback prospect who is being unfairly treated. People focus on his negatives but only focus on the positives of the other quarterbacks. When doing that, the things that make him special are going to get washed out because your opinion is already made up. Remember, when scouting, focus on the things the prospect can do, not what they can’t.