Rated a consensus five-star prospect out of Harrison Excessive Faculty in Kennesaw, Ga., Justin Fields finally took his dual-threat capabilities to Ohio State after committing to Penn State, then modified his thoughts and spent his first 12 months at Georgia. With the Buckeyes, Fields was a two-year starter who led them to a mixed 20-2 report and two berths within the Faculty Soccer Playoff.

On the energy of 51 whole touchdowns in 2019, Fields collected big-time accolades together with first-team All-Huge Ten, the Huge Ten Graham-George Offensive Participant of the Yr and the Griese-Brees Quarterback of the Yr. He was additionally a Davey O’Brien Award Finalist and a Heisman Trophy finalist then and was the Huge Ten Offensive Participant of the Yr and Quarterback of the Yr in 2020.

We’re breaking down every part that you must learn about Fields from a Fantasy supervisor perspective, together with most closely fits, dynasty outlook, measurables, scouting report, key stats and an NFL comparability.

Fantasy suits

Carolina Panthers

Offensive coordinator Joe Brady obtained a whole lot of mileage out of short-area passing kingpin Teddy Bridgewater in 2020. Not solely can Fields ship pinpoint accuracy on the common, however his deep-ball capacity and willingness to run would give Brady and the Panthers a signal-caller who would make defenses get nervous. D.J. Moore is a route-running whiz who would work exceptionally properly with Fields, and Robby Anderson could be helpful in each short- and long-range passing conditions. Their short-yardage bundle with Christian McCaffrey could be dizzying to defensive coordinators as properly. That is the place Fields’ quickest monitor to Fantasy relevance could be. 

Washington Soccer Crew

As soon as upon a time, Ron Rivera and his employees drafted a dynamic dual-threat quarterback with a powerful arm and a propensity to choose up chunks of yardage together with his ft. Fields is not the identical type of runner that Cam Newton was, however an offense was tailor-made to this kind of multi-purpose quarterback beneath Rivera earlier than, notably one which was schemed up and did not ask the passer to make difficult reads play after play. Washington already has a terrific No. 1 receiver in Terry McLaurin and will construct up its offensive line to higher defend Fields. 

New England Patriots

Talking of Newton, the workforce he performed for in 2020 may regulate its offense to suit Fields fairly simply, plus they have already got a beefy offensive line. Except the Patriots’ receiving corps improves dramatically, nevertheless, Fields may need a more durable time racking up passing yardage. He’d be a enjoyable match with the Pats but it surely would possibly take a 12 months or two for him to develop into greater than a streamer.

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Dynasty outlook

Except Trey Lance or Mac Jones winds up in an extremely good state of affairs, dynasty leaguers must decide between Zach Wilson and Fields because the second-best rookie quarterback. Each have nice arms, each are able to making issues occur when chaos ensues, however Fields’ edge in dashing capacity makes him extra interesting in Fantasy Soccer (not essentially within the NFL). Anticipate him to get picked with a top-15 choose in one-QB codecs and someplace between second and eighth general in two-QB codecs.

Scouting report

Strengths

• Good-sized quarterback with sturdy construct. Repeatedly shed blitzers and tacklers because of the mix of agility and energy.
• Superb, polished, constant footwork that helped present a strong base on his throws. Navigated the pocket properly, stepping up when the area was there and transferring round when it wasn’t.
• Has poise within the pocket and normally did an excellent job preserving his eyes downfield when climbing and when the pocket collapsed.
• Understood the fundamentals of pre-snap reads and reacted accordingly. Additionally had a terrific play-action faux and pump faux to get linebackers and safeties off-balance. Did a very good job of trying off safeties to make a neater throw to the sideline.
• Labored principally out of shotgun however had a handful of under-center snaps.
• Arm energy is superb, permitting him to make any and each throw. Continually goes for and regularly wins on far-sideline tosses and deep throws. Passes have traveled so far as 50, 51, 56 and 61 yards within the air.
• Typically had superb accuracy each within the pocket and on the transfer. Routinely hit slants, sidelines, curls, digs, posts, fades and deep balls. Fields threw greatest in rhythm.
• Mobility is a large asset. Not solely can Fields run RPO or navigate a pocket and transfer out of it with ease, however his wonderful improvisational expertise helped him regularly take damaged performs and switch them into high quality beneficial properties.
• Fields is a passer first, however he has good pace, acceleration and burst when he does take off. He is additionally keen to get bodily to transform a primary down or rating a short-yardage landing. Eighty p.c of his dashing scores got here from 10 yards or nearer at Ohio State.
• Ought to match proper into RPO and zone learn ideas with the potential to deal with a West Coast offense by his rookie season. Managed loads of alternative routes together with his high receivers at Ohio State. 
• Powerful and aggressive. Took a large hit versus Clemson, writhed in ache on the turf, and missed one play. Additionally performed by a thumb damage versus Clemson (six touchdowns).
• Praised for his management by former coaches City Meyer and Ryan Day. “He is taken over the locker room,” Meyer mentioned final December.

Issues

• Had an inclination to carry onto the ball too lengthy and stared down receivers, resulting in performs breaking down and defenses attending to Fields. This particular challenge could have magnified different points under.
• Usually navigated the pocket properly however would generally get flustered and lose momentum when he obtained knocked round by go rushers. Video games towards Alabama, Northwestern and Indiana all had spurts of Fields enjoying poorly as soon as defenses began to hit him. He was already the Eleventh-most blitzed quarterback in school final season, and NFL defensive coordinators determine to blitz him closely upon his arrival.
• Threw what gave the impression to be designed/predetermined passes more often than not. Maybe this was as a result of the coaches knew he would maintain the ball too lengthy in any other case. There’s proof of him discovering a second possibility, but it surely’s not constant. Fields appears clever — can he rapidly grasp the artwork of studying protection coverages after the snap? 
• Combined bag by way of consciousness — generally he noticed defenders and stoically stood in pocket and delivered a cash throw, generally he fully missed a defender and obtained hit. Particularly did not see unblocked front-four defenders.
• Would generally not see or go up simple short-area throws to take an opportunity on a deeper one. Some would work out, others would get picked off. Fields needs to be just a little extra keen to play it protected.
• Typically had an elongated throwing movement on middle-of-field throws. His accuracy could be affected.
• Occasional “drifty” footwork would possibly annoy some coaches, however hardly ever did it appear to influence his accuracy or arm energy.

Stats breakdown

Superior stats to know

• Second-best adjusted completion proportion (80.8%), per PFF
• 2.8% turnover-worthy play fee, Twenty first-best per PFF
• 38 performs of 20+ yards (nineteenth most in CFB)
• Twelfth-best in Air Yards earlier than completion (1,396) with solely the 62nd-most go makes an attempt
• Play-action passing: 77 makes an attempt (Forty eighth-most), 74.0% completion fee (fifth-best), 11.78 yards per try (14th-best), 9 touchdowns, one interception
• Solely 86 yards got here on display passes per PFF
• 14th within the nation in yards per try (9.33); Trevor Lawrence was 9.41
• Noticed the Eleventh most blitzes within the nation, and performed the fewest video games of anybody within the high 20
• Of his 15 dashing touchdowns at Ohio State, 12 had been from 10 yards or nearer

NFL comparability

Fields has mentioned up to now that he is modeled his recreation after Russell Wilson, and that is who I preserve coming again to for comparability. I particularly see Wilson when Fields takes off and runs when a play breaks down, in addition to when he uncorks a deep ball and connects by a decent window. A wrinkle is that Fields is greater than Wilson, and it is believed that Wilson fell within the draft partly due to his measurement. That is not going to occur to Fields.