Normally, no two evaluators have the same assessment on any one prospect. It’s one of those things that makes the build up to the NFL Draft (and the draft itself) so interesting. And yet, there seemed to be a consensus among draftniks that Trevor Lawrence was this class’ QB1.
Apparently, that wasn’t the case in league circles:
https://twitter.com/nflnetwork/status/1388592537598787586?s=20
In her analysis of the best value picks in the 2021 NFL Draft, Cynthia Frelund shared an anecdote about how Bears draft pick Justin Fields was the QB1 for “at least a quarter of the league.” Frelund said she talked with 16 NFL team scouts who gave their grades, sharing that 8 had Fields as their top QB. Using simple math, that’s a quarter of the league who had scouts viewing Fields at the top of the board. And yes, that means better than Lawrence (who went first overall), Zach Wilson, and Trey Lance (who once figured to make his own push for QB1 status).
So, in other words, the Bears are receiving an extreme value on Fields by snagging him with the 11th overall pick — even *AFTER* trading future draft capital (including a 2022 first-rounder) to get there. Clearly, Fields is in high standing in order for Chicago’s’ pick to be viewed as such a draft-weekend steal.
All of this seems insane to me, but hey, I do love me some Justin Fields! And I’m glad he’s the Bears’ first-round pick. If Fields turns out to be this class’ top-performing quarterback, then “at least a quarter of the league” will be writing “I told you so…” memos. And just imagine what I’ll be writing if he reaches that pinnacle. *Drifts off to dream land..*