Will Cleveland Browns see the real Justin Fields on Sunday?
How ready is Justin Fields?
First, a disclaimer. If you check the bio of this author, you will find my background is in research and development, specifically in nanoscience, nuclear engineering, and physics and there are many fans out there who know more than I do about how to play and scout football. However, when people start to throw numbers around, I’m pretty good at figuring out what’s real and what’s not. I’ll share what I know about Fields from that perspective.
Fields was one of the most polarizing prospects in the draft. He’s one of the most gifted athletes in the 2021 draft class, with Trey Lance being the other quarterback that people were talking about. However, Todd McShay of ESPN reported that NFL teams were concerned about Fields making his progressions: “only seven [times] were him sitting in the pocket going from progression one to progression two.”
A really good article addresses this subject from Benjamin Solak of the Draft Network. Solak calls out the unnamed secret sources from NFL teams. Solak reviewed the film of Fields and came up with a different number: 42 times. Could it be that these secret sources from NFL teams are wrong?
Heck yes they are wrong. In fact they tend to spread lies at draft time, hoping to excite the fan bases. More importantly, because ownership tends to meddle in the draft process, if they can get meddling owners excited, it can influence who the teams pick. Some team made a fool of Adam Schefter by strongly hinting that San Francisco was going to draft Mac Jones to divert attention from Trey Lance. Somebody else wanted Justin Fields to slide. These unnamed secret sources are just not truthful when there are millions of dollars at stake.
Pro Football Focus says that Fields is the most accurate passer of the 2021 quarterback class.
Also, for what it’s worth, he succeeds in impressing Mark Sanchez with his intelligence as tested by a sports psychologist who Sanchez vouches for.
"The guy who supposedly can't go through his reads.. Doesn't have great work ethic, all this bogus stuff..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 6, 2021
He scored the highest.. Ever"@Mark_Sanchez tells us about Justin Fields & his performance on an aptitude test out of 6,500 professional athletes #PatMcAfeeShowLIVE pic.twitter.com/gNynRbmNCE
Not that it means anything, but everything we know about Fields is that he learns quickly and his highly intelligent. Nevertheless, he lacks experience at the college level, with only one full year of college, and a shortened Covid year.
That puts him at a disadvantage compared to someone who has had four years of major college football, like Baker Mayfield has when he came to the Browns.
He just needs time.