Breer: Fields would go No. 2 overall to Jets in draft redo originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Watch any Patriots game this season, or any Bears game from Week 4 on, and it becomes pretty clear, pretty quickly that both Mac Jones and Justin Fields have what it takes to make it as legit NFL starters. But those two rookies have been so impressive recently that Albert Breer says some NFL scouts believe teams got the 2021 draft wrong.
Appearing on Boston sports radio on Wednesday, Breer said he’s spoken to several scouts, and the consensus was the QBs would come off the board differently if all the teams redrafted.
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"Trevor Lawrence would definitely still go first, and then the second quarterback to go would be between the guys taken fourth (Fields) and fifth (Jones),” Breer said. “Unanimously, the scouts that I talked to said if you redrafted right now, the Jets would probably take Justin Fields, but Mac Jones would be the other guy in the equation.
"I just think it's interesting that this early you're hearing -- because normally you would hear scouts say, well, we haven't seen enough and everything else. I've heard from enough scouts where it was like, yeah, the first quarterback would still be Lawrence, but the second quarterback to go, it would be between Fields and Jones now."
It’s easy to see why scouts feel that way. Jones has looked like a seasoned veteran leading the Patriots’ offense. Meanwhile, Fields' raw talent paired with his moxie have led to jaw-dropping plays and exciting drives.
To be fair, Zach Wilson, who was drafted No. 2 overall, has been put into a tough situation with the Jets. He was also starting to play better before being sidelined by a knee injury. And in San Francisco, Trey Lance has had an up-and-down season, but he’s played the fewest snaps among his peers by far.
It’s still too early to tell for sure which rookie QBs are the real deal, and which will turn out to be busts, but at this point it looks like Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy landed a legit playmaker when they traded up to select Fields.
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