Welcome to The Undroppables’ latest series of posts previewing the 2021 QB draft class. The 2021 draft could offer an abundance of talent at the position similar to the 2018 class, which saw four quarterbacks drafted in the top ten and five in the first round. In each post, I will cover a tier of 2021 QB prospects, starting with the Best of the Best and working our way through the sleepers and potential career backups.
Trevor Lawrence – Clemson
Lawrence has been on the NFL radar since high school, where he was tied for the 6th best college football prospect grade ever according to 247Sports. However, since Trevor Lawrence took the starting job and won the National Championship as a freshman in 2019, the Clemson QB has been even better than expected.
Since Lawrence became the starter, he has thrown for 8,778 yards and 83 touchdowns while completing 66.5% of his passes, putting together a 165.4 passing efficiency rating. In this time, Clemson has won 26 of 27 games in which Lawrence played, only losing to LSU in the 2020 National Championship game. With this in mind, Lawrence has been locked into the number one pick for some time now.
Strengths:
Any NFL General Manager would love this dude leading their franchise. Lawrence is 6’6″, brings a ton of athleticism to the QB position, and can throw the ball with both accuracy and power. To go along with his athleticism, Lawrence can make just about every throw and has great mechanics in almost all of his throws. Mentally, he brings everything you want to the table as well, breaking down defenses before and after the snap. Lawrence is a leader on the field and plays with a lot of heart, always bouncing back from adversity on the field.
Weaknesses:
Not very many, but he does show a few weaknesses in processing his reads in a few snaps on tape. Overall, these are incredibly small blemishes on an incredible prospect.
My Grade: A+ // Projected Draft Capital: 1st Pick Overall
Justin Fields – Ohio State
In 247Sports High School Prospect Rankings, the 2018 high school class saw two quarterbacks from Georgia vying to be the highest-rated prospect: one named Trevor Lawrence, and the other named Justin Fields. Like Lawrence, Fields is also a top ten 247Sports high school prospect of all time, tied for the 8th highest prospect grade ever given.
Fields signed and enrolled with the University of Georgia after his recruitment. However, Fields failed to unseat Jake Fromm from the Bulldogs’ starting QB position in his freshman season. After Fields spent the large majority of his Freshman season on the bench, he announced he would be transferring and eventually landed in Columbus, Ohio as the starting Quarterback for The Ohio State Buckeyes.
With Fields at the helm, the Buckeyes went 13-0 in 2019 before losing to Lawrence’s Clemson in the College Football Playoff Semifinal. For his efforts in 2019, Fields secured First-Team Big 10 and Second-Team All-American honors, as well as being named a finalist for both the Heisman trophy (best player in college football) and Davey O’Brien Award (best QB in college football). Currently, the Buckeyes sit at 6-0 atop the Big Ten poised to play Clemson in the Playoff Semifinal.
Strengths
Fields possesses a strong arm, which is he able to use effortlessly with his feet set or on the move. Fields’ arm talent is also on display when it comes to how quickly he can get rid of the ball. Fields has shown his ability on the quick release often, as Ohio State coach Ryan Day has implemented many Run-Pass Option (RPO) concepts for the young gunslinger. Alongside Fields’ arm talent, he also shows an abundance of mental talent, reading the field quickly and making smart decisions delivering the football. Even when the play breaks down for the Buckeyes, Fields stays composed and continues to make good decisions under pressure.
Fields is not one-dimensional though, as he also brings another rushing threat to the Buckeyes backfield. Fields has said that he can run a 40-yard dash in the 4.40-second range. If true, Fields would likely be the 2nd fastest starting Quarterback in the NFL behind only Lamar Jackson. Along with game-changing speed, Fields also runs with intelligence and vision whether it’s a designed runs or a scramble. He usually makes the correct decision on zone-read plays and options, which he will continue to use in the pro game.
Weaknesses
Fields doesn’t give up on plays, even when it is advantageous to him. He often chooses to either force the ball downfield or use his legs rather than throw the ball away or take a sack when he is in trouble. Furthermore, Fields needs to improve his pre-snap reads against blitzes and improve at diagnosing coverages. NFL scouts may be worried that Ohio State’s simplistic RPO offense has not given enough mental reps to Fields to be able to run an NFL offense. Unfortunately, some of these transitional issues have reared their head for another recent Buckeye grad, Dwayne Haskins. These issues may worry NFL teams for Fields’ early-career abilities. However, Fields seems to have more talent than Haskins had coming out of college.
My Grade: A // Projected Draft Capital: Top-3 Pick
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading. You can find me on Twitter @KL_Fantasy, and feel free to send me questions about anything football related. Be on the lookout for future posts of my rookie QB profiles over the next couple weeks, along with more Dynasty content from The Undroppables.
