Patriots: Ranking the likelihood of NE landing these QBs for 2021 season

3. Justin Fields

Ohio State star Justin Fields could fall to the Patriots at No. 15.

The extent to which Justin Fields’s performances are nitpicked by analysts and scouts is nothing short of infuriating when you consider that no other quarterback has had to deal with this level of complaining. Every time he holds the ball too long and takes a sack or makes an errant throw on a poor read, folks jump the gun and drop him multiple spots on their respective draft boards.

You would think that Fields wasn’t a former top recruit and a serial winner at every stage of his career, but that is exactly the case. In his two years at Ohio State, he completed 68.4% of his passes for 5,373 yards (9.3 YPA), and 63 touchdowns to nine interceptions, equating to a 179.1 rating.

Haters will continue honing in on Fields’ flaws instead of lauding his NFL-ready intangibles, and while they do that, he might just fall to the Patriots at No. 15. That would be a dream scenario for New England, as it would allow them to devote even more cap space to free agency.