Justin Fields and Other Buckeyes as NFL Prospects

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HighSchoolFB45

Well-known member
Justin Fields: Most scouts have him as 2nd or 3rd in the 2021 draft, but BR surprised me and had him ranked 24th. It made me question Fields because this is the second time they’ve ranked him low. All of last season I questioned his arm strength because he under threw quite a few balls, and in the biggest moments he didn’t play the best (2 fumbles against Penn State, 2 interceptions against Clemson and another near pick six early in the game). However I think he has near perfect athleticism for the position, is a great leader and has good touch outside of the deep throw. However he has the potential to be better than Trevor Lawrence in my opinion. I see a bigger and faster Deshaun Watson.

Chris Olave: Fantastic ball skills, great speed and silky smooth route running. Tough competitor too. However, he is pretty skinny and might need to put on some more weight at the next level. Hard to find a comparison as he is a pretty unique player, but his game is a lot like TY Hilton.

Shaun Wade: I think he has more athleticism than Okudah, but not as great of ball presence and ball skills. He has also showed he can play the corner blitz and I can see him being able to play FS or nickel CB. Similar play as Chris Harris Jr.

Your guys’ thoughts? I haven’t looked at other prospects as in depth as these guys.
 
 
When you say BR do you mean Bleacher Report? If so Matt Miller is a huge Trey Lance fan and has started to hype him as the 2nd QB off the board next year mostly because he has incredible stats albeit against lesser FCS comp. Most still have Fields #2 and the more analytic based Pro Football Focus has Fields much higher pushing Lawrence for the #1 QB taken because he "wins" more plays; they had him winning the QB battle against Lawrence in the semifinal game. As for the balance of tOSU players Wade will have a high ceiling due to his ability to cover multiple WRs positions and play both man and zone, should be a top 10 type pick. Additionally this past year was weak for interior OL so the combo of Wyatt Davis & Josh Myers should go in the 1st round as many teams will be in need of an infusion of guard/center talent. Olave is a day 2 type player and this is yet another strong year for WRs, probably will be the 3rd B1G WR picked after Rondale Moore and Rashod Bateman.
 
I will be shocked if Fields makes it as a pro QB. He seems like another in the long line of Ohio State QBs that were very good in college but not built for the pros. Maybe he will surprise me.
 
Please tell me an NFL GM isn't dumb enough to pick a Buckeye QB high in the first round? It simply doesn't work. Buckeye fans get ticked at me when I say this, but we've seen this movie before. Braxton Miller, Troy Smith, Terrell Pryor, Cardale Jones, Dewayne Haskins... they put up huge numbers against weak big ten defenses, and for some reason NFL people eat it up. Like JT Barrett, Fields simply isn't accurate enough to be an NFL qb. The windows are much bigger in the big ten to throw to. Look at the number of big ten DB's and linebackers in the NFL. Minimal. When you do have one, you simply throw away from him.
 
Justin Fields completed 65% of his passes against Clemson. Trevor Lawrence completed 55% of his passes against Ohio State. But Fields isn't accurate enough lol
 
Red14 said:
Please tell me an NFL GM isn't dumb enough to pick a Buckeye QB high in the first round? It simply doesn't work. Buckeye fans get ticked at me when I say this, but we've seen this movie before. Braxton Miller, Troy Smith, Terrell Pryor, Cardale Jones, Dewayne Haskins... they put up huge numbers against weak big ten defenses, and for some reason NFL people eat it up. Like JT Barrett, Fields simply isn't accurate enough to be an NFL qb. The windows are much bigger in the big ten to throw to. Look at the number of big ten DB's and linebackers in the NFL. Minimal. When you do have one, you simply throw away from him.
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Braxton Miller went in the 3rd round as a receiver. Troy Smith and Cardale Jones were 5th round picks. Terrelle Pryor was selected in the supplemental draft. JT Barrett went undrafted. Nobody, even Ohio State fans were hyping these guys up. Except some sports outlets were projecting Cardale to go in the first round after his three game run, and his success came against Alabama and Oregon, the two best teams in the country outside of Ohio State. Dwayne has only played 1/2 of a season, it’s too early to call him a bust. And Fields is only projected as a first round pick because of his size and his recruiting ranking. Let’s wait to see how much he develops this season.
 
Orin Swift said:
Justin Fields completed 65% of his passes against Clemson. Trevor Lawrence completed 55% of his passes against Ohio State. But Fields isn't accurate enough lol
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In Lawrence’s defense, he played against 3, potentially 4 if Josh Proctor has a breakout year, first round picks.
 
HighSchoolFB45 said:
Braxton Miller went in the 3rd round as a receiver. Troy Smith and Cardale Jones were 5th round picks. Terrelle Pryor was selected in the supplemental draft. JT Barrett went undrafted. Nobody, even Ohio State fans were hyping these guys up. Except some sports outlets were projecting Cardale to go in the first round after his three game run, and his success came against Alabama and Oregon, the two best teams in the country outside of Ohio State. Dwayne has only played 1/2 of a season, it’s too early to call him a bust. And Fields is only projected as a first round pick because of his size and his recruiting ranking. Let’s wait to see how much he develops this season.
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Fields will be a first rounder because he'll put up gigantic numbers at Ohio State, largely because of the inferior competition he plays, but no one ever sees that. We've seen this movie before.
 
Red14 said:
Fields will be a first rounder because he'll put up gigantic numbers at Ohio State, largely because of the inferior competition he plays, but no one ever sees that. We've seen this movie before.
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With Lamar Jackson?

Seriously, I think you like Lawrence (1) because he doesn’t play in the B10; and (2) because he is white. Both play into your bias. Happy to hear any insight into why Fields won’t be a great QB, but saying he doesn’t face good competition is just moronic.
 
People sleeping on Trey Lance. He’s going to also be a really good QB. Not the same upside as Lawrence or Fields, but a steady QB (think Dak w/o the insane contract demands)
 
Red14 said:
Please tell me an NFL GM isn't dumb enough to pick a Buckeye QB high in the first round? It simply doesn't work. Buckeye fans get ticked at me when I say this, but we've seen this movie before. Braxton Miller, Troy Smith, Terrell Pryor, Cardale Jones, Dewayne Haskins... they put up huge numbers against weak big ten defenses, and for some reason NFL people eat it up. Like JT Barrett, Fields simply isn't accurate enough to be an NFL qb. The windows are much bigger in the big ten to throw to. Look at the number of big ten DB's and linebackers in the NFL. Minimal. When you do have one, you simply throw away from him.
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Ohio State currently has 10 Db's in the league, 9 DB's from the BIG 10 were drafted this year and 7 LB's, 4 LB's in 2019 =11<2 years, 10 DB's drafted in 2019=20<2 years. That's 16 second level players that Fields threw against last season.
 
Red14 said:
Fields will be a first rounder because he'll put up gigantic numbers at Ohio State, largely because of the inferior competition he plays, but no one ever sees that. We've seen this movie before.
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Name 5 current NFL QB's from a "Blue Blood" college football program that's a super star, elite or even doing well from the CFP era in the league? Blue Bloods- Alabama, OSU, USC, ND, OU, Michigan, Texas, Nebraska. You can include if you want and you probaly will add LSU, Penn State, Florida, Georgia, FSU, MIami, Tennessee, Auburn, Clemson, Michigan State, UCLA, TA&M, Oregon, Stanford, Washington, Wisconsin, Arkansas. The ladder schools aren't really "Blue Bloods" but I'll give you Deshaun Watson but name me 5 from the initial list heck, name me 3?
 
Zezzo! said:
Name 5 current NFL QB's from a "Blue Blood" college football program that's a super star, elite or even doing well from the CFP era in the league? Blue Bloods- Alabama, OSU, USC, ND, OU, Michigan, Texas, Nebraska. You can include if you want and you probaly will add LSU, Penn State, Florida, Georgia, FSU, MIami, Tennessee, Auburn, Clemson, Michigan State, UCLA, TA&M, Oregon, Stanford, Washington, Wisconsin, Arkansas. The ladder schools aren't really "Blue Bloods" but I'll give you Deshaun Watson but name me 5 from the initial list heck, name me 3?
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It is pretty interesting that the blue bloods have arguments for RBU, DBU, WRU, etc. but for QBU the only ones with an argument is USC and Oklahoma. Other schools that argue for QBU are Cal, Purdue, and other non blue bloods. Perhaps it’s because QBs develop better without stars around them?
 
Zezzo! said:
Name 5 current NFL QB's from a "Blue Blood" college football program that's a super star, elite or even doing well from the CFP era in the league? Blue Bloods- Alabama, OSU, USC, ND, OU, Michigan, Texas, Nebraska. You can include if you want and you probaly will add LSU, Penn State, Florida, Georgia, FSU, MIami, Tennessee, Auburn, Clemson, Michigan State, UCLA, TA&M, Oregon, Stanford, Washington, Wisconsin, Arkansas. The ladder schools aren't really "Blue Bloods" but I'll give you Deshaun Watson but name me 5 from the initial list heck, name me 3?
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You are correct, many times the QB's are from smaller schools and get a chance to "hone" their skills. Now Clemson seems to be different as Deshaun Watson and soon to be Trever Lawrence are NFL QB's. Time will tell on Lawrence, but he looks really good. But look at probably the best college program the last 10 years in Alabama, they use game managers for QB, not studs. I'll Sam Bradford, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Tom Brady, Colt McCoy, Matt Stafford, Cam Newton, Kirk Cousins, Sam Darnold, Marcus Mariota, Russell Wilson. Now the other thing we have to understand is our definition of star, elite is very high. I mean most years in the NFL, we have at least half of the starting QB's who are either in a place they have to prove themselves or are on their way out, that's leaves us only 15 QB's. We generally whittle that down to a top 5 or so. Arguably the top QB's in football, Brady (Michigan), Rodgers( Cal), Brees( Purdue), Wilson (Wisconsin)...not from exactly QB factories.
 
Red14 said:
You are correct, many times the QB's are from smaller schools and get a chance to "hone" their skills. Now Clemson seems to be different as Deshaun Watson and soon to be Trever Lawrence are NFL QB's. Time will tell on Lawrence, but he looks really good. But look at probably the best college program the last 10 years in Alabama, they use game managers for QB, not studs. I'll Sam Bradford, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Tom Brady, Colt McCoy, Matt Stafford, Cam Newton, Kirk Cousins, Sam Darnold, Marcus Mariota, Russell Wilson. Now the other thing we have to understand is our definition of star, elite is very high. I mean most years in the NFL, we have at least half of the starting QB's who are either in a place they have to prove themselves or are on their way out, that's leaves us only 15 QB's. We generally whittle that down to a top 5 or so. Arguably the top QB's in football, Brady (Michigan), Rodgers( Cal), Brees( Purdue), Wilson (Wisconsin)...not from exactly QB factories.
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Tua is a game manager?
 
eastside_purple said:
Tua is a game manager?
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Tua is the only Bama QB who's broken the mold, but remember, he's played on GREAT teams, and he can't stay healthy. I'm still on the fence about his pro career. I certainly would not have used a first or second round pick on him.
 
Red14 said:
Tua is the only Bama QB who's broken the mold, but remember, he's played on GREAT teams, and he can't stay healthy. I'm still on the fence about his pro career. I certainly would not have used a first or second round pick on him.
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Lawrence played on great teams, does he get he Tua great team discount as a pro prospect too? Oh wait, he’s white.
 
Trevor Lawrence has played with high draft pick talent at RB (Etienne) and WR (Higgins and Ross, assuming his career isn't cut short from injury) against overwhelmingly bad competition.

I think he's likely to be a quality NFL QB, but I'd probably chill it on labeling others as game managers or stat stuffers when Lawrence is playing with Ferraris against Ford Pintos in the ACC.
 
nwwarrior09 said:
Trevor Lawrence has played with high draft pick talent at RB (Etienne) and WR (Higgins and Ross, assuming his career isn't cut short from injury) against overwhelmingly bad competition.

I think he's likely to be a quality NFL QB, but I'd probably chill it on labeling others as game managers or stat stuffers when Lawrence is playing with Ferraris against Ford Pintos in the ACC.
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Exactly.
 
ESPN ranked the current NFL all conference rosters based on NCAA conference and to many astonished readers the B1G (can you believe this?) had the best roster: https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/29206024/nfl-ultimate-all-conference-teams

Here is their ranking>

1) B1G
2) SEC
3) ACC (Disputed as Notre Dame is lumped in with them while they are Indy in football)
4) PAC 12
5) Big 12
6) Non-Power 5

Here are the B1G and SEC teams if you feel like picking them apart>

No. 1: Big Ten
OFFENSE

QB Russell Wilson, Wisconsin (Seattle Seahawks)
RB Ezekiel Elliott, Ohio State (Dallas Cowboys)
WR Michael Thomas, Ohio State (New Orleans Saints)
WR Chris Godwin, Penn State (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
TE George Kittle, Iowa (San Francisco 49ers)
Flex Saquon Barkley, Penn State (New York Giants)
OT Ryan Ramczyk, Wisconsin (Saints)
G Rodger Saffold, Indiana (Tennessee Titans)
C Pat Elflein, Ohio State (Minnesota Vikings)
G Brandon Scherff, Iowa (Washington Redskins)
OT Taylor Lewan, Michigan (Titans)

DEFENSE

Edge Joey Bosa, Ohio State (Los Angeles Chargers)
DT Cameron Heyward, Ohio State (Pittsburgh Steelers)
DT Kawann Short, Purdue (Carolina Panthers)
Edge Nick Bosa, Ohio State (49ers)
LB Lavonte David, Nebraska (Bucs)
LB Devin Bush, Michigan (Steelers)
Flex J.J. Watt, Wisconsin (Houston Texans)
CB Marshon Lattimore, Ohio State (Saints)
CB Denzel Ward, Ohio State (Cleveland Browns)
S Devin McCourty, Rutgers (New England Patriots)
S Micah Hyde, Iowa (Buffalo Bills)

No. 2: SEC
OFFENSE

QB Dak Prescott, Mississippi State (Cowboys)
RB Derrick Henry, Alabama (Titans)
WR Julio Jones, Alabama (Atlanta Falcons)
WR Mike Evans, Texas A&M (Bucs)
TE Jared Cook, South Carolina (Saints)
Flex Odell Beckham Jr., LSU (Browns)
OT Laremy Tunsil, Ole Miss (Texans)
G Trai Turner, LSU (Chargers)
C Maurkice Pouncey, Florida (Steelers)
G Elgton Jenkins, Mississippi State (Green Bay Packers)
OT Andrew Whitworth, LSU (Los Angeles Rams)

DEFENSE

Edge Von Miller, Texas A&M (Denver Broncos)
DT Fletcher Cox, Mississippi State (Philadelphia Eagles)
DT Chris Jones, Mississippi State (Kansas City Chiefs)
Edge Myles Garrett, Texas A&M (Browns)
LB C.J. Mosley, Alabama (New York Jets)
LB Roquan Smith, Georgia (Chicago Bears)
Flex Danielle Hunter, LSU (Vikings)
CB Stephon Gilmore, South Carolina (Patriots)
CB Tre'Davious White, LSU (Bills)
S Tyrann Mathieu, LSU (Chiefs)
S Jamal Adams, LSU (Jets)
 
eastside_purple said:
How did Russell Wilson beat out Brady?
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From the column>


Toughest choice: Quarterback. How on earth are you supposed to choose between Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Russell Wilson? Our panel narrowly went with Wilson (four votes, compared to three for Brady and two for Brees) based on the criteria that we're constructing the best roster for 2020.

Personally speaking, this was probably the choice I wrestled with longer than any other in this whole exercise. I would have gone with Wilson if we were building a team for the next two or three years. I would have gone with Brady if they were all playing at their peak right now. And I wanted to avoid making a "homer pick" with Brees because I cover the Saints. But at the same time, that helps me appreciate how well Brees is still playing. He was the MVP runner-up in 2018, then had the best passer rating of his career in 2019. He got my vote, because I still trust him most to get the best out of this stacked offense.
 
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