Skip to content

Ad Disclosure

NFL.com reporter shares why Chicago Bears selected Justin Fields with No. 11 pick

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Trying to get an idea of which team was going to select Justin Fields in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft was almost impossible. His grades had ranged all across the board, making it difficult for analyst to gauge where the former Ohio State quarterback would land.

Fields was ultimately selected at the No. 11 spot by the Chicago Bears on Thursday night, just missing the Top 10. Still, the former Buckeye said he was excited to join the organization and is ready to work when he arrives in the Windy City.

Chicago taking Fields in the No. 11 spot wasn’t a move many thought the franchise would make. Nobody thought the Bears would take a quarterback so early. So why did they?

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport provided that explanation.

“First of all, Matt Nagy and Ryan Day are pretty close. Nagy calls up Day in the middle of the season last year and just kinda wonders, ‘Hey, how’s your quarterback? What’s going on?’ Ryan Day says he is a generational talent,” Rapoport said. “That’s something that I know the Bears never forgot.

“The other thing is they love Justin Fields’ intellect. His recall. …Really impressive mentally and obviously a lot of the reason why the Bears were extremely excited about this draft choice.”

Fields enjoyed a tremendous amount of success at Ohio State, leading the team to two B1G titles and back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances in his two seasons as a starter. He was a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2019 and was a two-time B1G Offensive Player of the Year.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB