The case of Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields has been a curious one when dissecting where his stock is for the upcoming 2021 NFL draft. Before the year, he was thought to be just a wee-bit behind Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, with a shot to catch him as the No. 1 overall pick with a rockin’ season.
The year started out that way for Fields, but he had some subpar performances against Indiana and Northwestern that flipped the narrative on its head. Once all the crimson confetti stopped falling in Miami, draft experts started nitpicking the Buckeye quarterback’s decision-making with progressions, his arm-strength, and more.
As a result, he started to fall down draft boards on many mocks that began to hit the world wide web. More recently though, some experts have begun coming to Fields defense, and as a result, he seems to be inching back up in some of the mock drafts.
Count ESPN’s Todd McShay in that camp. He just released his latest NFL mock draft (subscription required) and has the former Heisman finalist moving up from his last projection, and it all has to do with a team trading up to get him.