One week ago, the Chicago Bears stunned their fans and the rest of the NFL when they traded up in the 2021 NFL draft to select Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields. The Bears moved up nine spots to pick their newest franchise passer and hopefully put an end to the quarterback carousel that has been spinning at Soldier Field for decades.
Since the selection, Fields has comported himself with confidence and has preached the desire to get to work immediately. He said it himself when he received the call from Bears head coach Matt Nagy on draft night.
“I’m ready to work. That’s it,” Fields told his family once the selection was announced. “I don’t need to talk much. There’s been too much talking lately so, I’m just ready to work. That’s it. I’m happy though.”
When Fields said that there was too much talking going on, he may have been referencing the pre-draft chatter, saying he wasn’t a hard worker while attending Ohio State. That news, along with questions surrounding his throwing motion, the recent failures of quarterbacks from Ohio State, and more, could have contributed to his fall in the draft. Once considered the second-best prospect in the draft, Fields fell out of the top ten until Chicago swooped in to select him with the 11th overall pick.
Players don’t forget who passed on them in the draft and sometimes use it as motivation. Recently, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes famously counted on his 10 fingers after scoring a touchdown against the Bears in 2019, who of course passed on him for quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.
Fifteen years ago, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said the San Francisco 49ers would regret passing up on him for Alex Smith in the 2005 NFL draft. Could Fields harbor similar feelings towards those 10 teams who didn’t pick him? We may find out as soon as this season.
Though the NFL schedule is still six days away from being released, we already know the Bears 2021 opponent list. It turns out three of those 10 teams are on the schedule this fall. The Bears will play the 49ers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Detroit Lions twice, all of whom had top-10 picks in the draft (No. 3, No. 5, and No. 6 respectively) and passed on Fields.
Friendly reminder that the Bears play 3 of the 10 teams that passed on Justin Fields this fall, including the Niners who took Trey Lance.
If he gets those starts, he's going to unleash hell on them. https://t.co/PlRa7MGpNV
— Brendan Sugrue (@BrendanSugrue) May 7, 2021
Though the Bengals already seem to have their quarterback in place with Joe Burrow, the 49ers made their intentions very clear when they traded up to select quarterback Trey Lance out of North Dakota State, instead of Fields.
The Lions, meanwhile, acquired veteran quarterback Jared Goff from the Los Angeles Rams this offseason, but may have been interested in a rookie quarterback as well. Instead, they’re committing to Goff and took Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell. When Fields saw four more teams pass him up on draft night, he seemed determined when the Bears call finally came in. But this isn’t the first time he’s been passed up.
Prior to transferring to Ohio State, the Heisman finalist lost the starting job at the University of Georgia to Jake Fromm, who failed to live up to expectations while he was there.
Fields, meanwhile, led Ohio State to consecutive appearances in the College Football Playoff, appearing in the championship game this past season and totaling 78 touchdowns. Fields indirectly brought the situation up when asked about his slide in the draft, showing he doesn’t forget who counts him out. “I’ve gone through situations where I haven’t been chosen. I think the world has seen the outcome of that.”
Ohio State's Justin Fields on waiting to be taken at No. 11: "I've gone through situations where I haven't been chosen. I think the world has seen the outcome of that."
— Nathan Baird (@nwbaird) April 30, 2021
It’s still too early to tell if or when Fields will make his regular-season debut, but if he plays against any of those three teams, especially San Francisco, he’ll likely have some extra motivation when taking the field. With a chip on his shoulder and a ton of confidence, Bears fans might finally be on the right side of one of those revenge games for once.
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