Ringside Report Takes a Closer Look at the 2021 NFL Draft & Season – Football News

By Ron Signore

Every year, sports football fans become enamored at the speculation the NFL Draft will bring. It is a time where immediate hopes find unrealistic expectations, or doubts find the depths of the lowest valleys.

As we transition back to a sense of normalcy in sports, the 2021 NFL Draft commenced on Thursday night bringing a lot of eyes to many different areas of the game. Some had eyes on where their supported team had gaps to fill in talent. Some had a drive to see if their team could make a big splash within the draft with a high-profile acquisition or trade. Some specifically watched to see if the agenda from the analysts would be fulfilled or not. In that last instance, I am referring to what I deem the Trumpism effect.

I spent some time last weekend with friends who I deem to be family. While it is tough navigating through politics (so we don’t) there were some points that came up that clearly resort back to the notion of Trump followers. I was asked my thoughts on ex- Ohio State Quarterback Justin Fields compared to ex- Alabama Quarterback Mac Jones to start. While other top tier QB’s became part of the discussion, the whole topic revolved around the notion of how disturbed my friend was that Justin Fields was glorified as much as he was in the media. Frankly, it became very apparent despite the fact he blatantly stated that it was an attempt for analysts of represented networks to force race into a major decision for a franchise in the NFL.

Justin Field’s is African American. Mac Jones is white. Both are excellent college quarterbacks. In fact, both are good prospects in their own regard pending their landing spot. However, my friend brings up a strong point in why he feels that way. When you view the mechanics of Justin Fields, he clearly has deficiencies in being a passer with his throwing mechanics. For those who know football mechanically, you can see Justin Fields starts his throwing motion low and sort of- windmills- his throwing action. It is a lot of movement at the NFL level when defenses are playing at the speed the game entails. Jones, however, is more of that Tom Brady pocket passer mechanically. Not that I am comparing his skill set to that we know of Tom Brady now, but the style is very similar. Both Jones and Brady are relatively limited in mobility but can throw the ball where it needs to go. Fields is a little bit different. He has pretty good arm strength and accuracy, but again, that mechanics portion has him holding the ball too long before release. His major positive here is that he is mobile compared to Jones.

My buddy is a mechanical perfectionist when it comes to football, specifically in the quarterback position. His feelings, while seemingly grotesque on the surface drove to a very interesting output in the topic. The forced position the media is putting Justin Fields in is nothing short of setting him up for unrealistic expectations of success and er go failure. I will admit, my first two thoughts were that he is an Alabama fan and not an Ohio State fan, and then questioning him actually being a racist (and maybe he is). But then we watched some “tape” and compared many of the quarterbacks in the draft. It was clear mechanically speaking that the best qb in the draft was Zach Wilson out of BYU. However, the media had portrayed since the end of the college football season that the number one pick, and number one quarterback to go in the draft would be Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence. That did indeed happen when the Jacksonville Jaguars selected him to kick off the draft. But the debates come from the following picks. Which quarterback would go 2nd, 3rd and 4th. The analysts had a mock draft that pumped the second pick to be Zach Wilson going to the New York Jets, which also happened. The debate came to be who the 3rd quarterback would be: Fields or Jones?

With the 3rd pick of the draft, the San Francisco 49ers selected Trey Lance from North Dakota State. This was EXTREMELY shocking because he was a little under the radar overall, and Coach Shannahan typically likes the Mac Jones style qb. But alas, The Chicago Bears traded up a draft pick and took Justin Fields at #11 with Mac Jones falling to #15 going to the New England Patriots.

If comical history has told us anything, it is that Justin Fields will be a bust. The Chicago Bears are known for botching draft picks and taking the wrong guy. A few years back, they traded up in the draft to get Mitch Trubisky from North Carolina, while shortly after that pick, the Kansas City Chiefs took Patrick Mahomes, who has already proven to be an MVP and franchise player. This would ultimately make me assume that Mac Jones will be phenomenal in his role with New England and stepping into that system under coach Bill Bellichek.

One thing is for sure, the Bears are a subpar team with a subpar offensive line. They are managed poorly from top to bottom. This is the situation my friend was worried about for Fields- he will be in a market with expectations of Sears Tower type proportions and arguably the most unforgiving fan base in the league. Fields will already have little time to throw and will most likely be running for his life most of the time.

I admit, I almost never would have considered race be a factor in this situation. After review, I personally believe Fields is set up to fail with the hype he received through the major analyst outlets like ESPN, FOX and CBS. Fields would be worth a draft pick as a good back up qb to be developed long term and bring to success (a notion my friend brought to the table) but he is not NFL ready from the appearance of his style of play.

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