New on Sports Illustrated: Bears Trade Up, Take Justin Fields at No. 11 in 2021 NFL Draft

-

After leading Ohio State to the College Football Playoff during his two seasons, Justin Fields is headed to Chicago in 2021 after the Bears traded up with the Giants.

View the
original article to see embedded media.

Coming into this year's draft, the expectation was the Bears would take a quarterback at some point, if not in the first round then sometime over the weekend. Instead, Chicago couldn't wait that long.

The Bears traded up from pick No. 20 to No. 11, then selected Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields as the franchise's next quarterback.

In the deal, Chicago received the 11th pick in this year's draft, and sent the No. 20 pick to the Giants, along with a 2022 first-round pick, a 2022 fourth-round pick and a fifth-round pick for 2021.

The 22-year-old heads to the NFL after beginning his college career at Georgia in 2018 before transferring to Ohio State in 2019. Fields starred in his two years with the Buckeyes, throwing for 63 touchdowns and nine interceptions over 22 games while completing 64.8% of his pass attempts. 

The quarterback led Ohio State to the College Football Playoff each season, with the Buckeyes falling to Alabama in last season's national title game.

The Bears last took a quarterback in the first round in 2017, when they traded up to tack Mitchell Trubisky with the No. 2 pick. Chicago infamously chose Trubisky over Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson. 

Trubisky struggled to kick-start the Bears' offense and signed a one-year deal with the Bills this offseason to back up Josh Allen. The Bears signed veteran quarterback Andy Dalton this offseason on a one-year contract.

Fields's draft stock was all over the board, his projection remaining in the top three until the final days leading up to the 2021 NFL draft. He had been a longtime favorite of the 49ers before reports surfaced that the franchise was more interested in Alabama's Mac Jones and North Dakota State's Trey Lance.

Last week, Fields reportedly informed teams that he is managing epilepsy. He was diagnosed with the neurological disorder as a child and has seen his symptoms get shorter and more infrequent over time, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelisserro. 

NFL Network reported that the disorder, which does cause seizures, has not impacted Fields's football career, and doctors expect him to outgrow it. He does take medication for the diagnosis.

Fields is not the first NFL player to manage an epilepsy diagnosis, including Hall of Fame guard Alan Faneca, who took medication to control seizures throughout his career. 

More NFL Draft Coverage:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New on Sports Illustrated: NBA Draft Big Board 3.0: Top 80 Prospect Rankings

-
Image
Ranking the top 80 players in the 2021 NBA draft with the NCAA tournament in the rearview. View the original article to see embedded media. With three months until draft night and the NBA’s regular season winding down , the league at large has begun shifting full focus to the off-season. Players have until May 30 to declare as early entrants for the draft, after which point the predraft process will open up in full, leading up to the combine and lottery at the end of June . Our Big Board is long overdue for an update, and fully expanded out to 80 prospects as we all attempt to make sense of the big picture moving forward. As usual, the Big Board is primarily based on my personal evaluations from both live viewings and on film, in many cases dating back several years. The rankings also incorporate feedback and opinions I glean from NBA executives, scouts, and others around the industry. This is not a mock draft, and team fit is not considered, but it is also intended to be somewhat
Read more

New on Sports Illustrated: The Patriots’ Post-Brady Era Begins Now

-
Image
In Mac Jones, Bill Belichick drafted a Round 1 quarterback for the first time ever—and looks to usher in a return to dominance. Of course the first time Bill Belichick drafts a first-round quarterback, it’s one for whom he could get an unvarnished scouting report from good buddy Nick Saban —and without even having to do any draft-day maneuvering. Now, the post-Tom Brady era in New England really begins. The Patriots treated 2020 as something of a gap year, with a league-high eight opt-outs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a starting quarterback, Cam Newton, who didn't sign with the team until June. They were, for the first time in two decades, mediocre, but that 7–9 record bought them the ticket to a fresh start: the No. 15 pick, which they used Thursday night on Alabama QB Mac Jones. The oft-cited statistic that Belichick had never drafted a QB higher than pick No. 62—used on Jimmy Garoppolo in 2014—was inherently flawed, given that Belichick had Brady as a starter for 19 of
Read more

New on Sports Illustrated: NCAA Board of Governors Unanimously Votes to Extend Mark Emmert’s Contract

-
Despite recent controversy, the NCAA Board of Governors voted unanimously to extend Mark Emmert's contract through 2025. The NCAA Board of Governors unanimously voted to extend president Mark Emmert's contract through Dec. 31, 2025. The news was announced Tuesday as a one-line news item buried within a larger update after the board's quarterly meeting. He's the fifth president in NCAA history and has been in the role since 2010. Emmert previously held high-ranking roles at Washington, LSU, Connecticut and Montana State. His base salary is reportedly $2.7 million.  Within the announcement, the Board reaffirmed its commitment to updating name, image and likeness rules. Dellenger: Inside the Hidden Industry of Name, Image and Likeness and the Changing World for College Athletes Emmert came under fire after disparities were shown between the men's and women's college basketball tournaments this year, specifically the weight room. Prior to the public backlash,
Read more