2021 NFL Mock Draft: Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields are golden tickets

I can already hear it now — the people who want to be contrarian and say that Justin Fields is the QB1 of the 2021 NFL Draft class. Unless something I haven’t seen yet comes to light, that’s not going to happen from me. But even if that’s the case, the Ohio State signal-caller is still an incredibly nice prospect.

Georgia elected to go with the continuity of Jake Fromm over giving the clearly more talented Fields the starting quarterback job in 2018, which led to Fields ending up in Columbus. And in his first season as the starter, it became clear that the Bulldogs made the wrong decision. Because Fields put everything that made him a highly coveted 5-star recruit on display.

Though the last memory of the season regarding Fields was his two-interception performance in the College Football Playoff loss to Clemson, he only threw three picks all year. Meanwhile, he completed 67 percent of his throws for 3,273 yards and 41 touchdowns while also rushing for 10 scores. He has the arm, he has the athleticism, he has the goods.

While the Carolina Panthers signed Teddy Bridgewater to a three-year deal, Bridgewater has long felt like a stopgap option for whatever team inked him to that contract. The ceiling is defined with him at quarterback, the same of which can’t be said of bringing the dynamic Fields into the fold.