Justin Fields, drafted by the Chicago Bears with the 11th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, and Malik Willis, drafted by the Titans in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, have traveled similar paths during their still young NFL journey.
Fields spent three seasons running for his life in Chicago as management failed to surround him with a good offensive line and offensive weapons.
Meanwhile, Willis was safe on the sidelines as he was never given the chance to show what he could do.
Both were extremely young and talented quarterbacks with strong arms and running ability, yet neither had a team that recognized their talent and built around it.
Instead, they limited their abilities and then shipped them off to the Steelers and Packers, respectively, this year.
Pittsburgh and Green Bay couldn’t be happier for these two young quarterbacks are finally in systems that recognize their abilities and unleash them from the tether that previously held them back.
The Bears traded Fields to the Steelers for a conditional sixth-round pick. After getting the starting nod over Russell Wilson, all he’s done is lead the team to a 3-0 start.
Willis, traded to the Packers in late August for a seventh-round pick, was forced into action only a few short days later after Jordan Love got hurt in Week 1. All he’s done is lead them to two straight wins and a 2-1 record.
Suddenly, many critics are warming up to these quarterbacks, a far cry from those who once unfairly criticized them.
Take CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco, who railed against the Titans for selecting Willis.
“He’s not a quarterback,” exclaimed a defiant Prisco. “What he did at Liberty is not close to playing quarterback in the NFL. He looks like a running back. He tucks the ball, one read and run…I don’t like the player. I think he’s a second or third-round pick in my book.”
While Prisco is right about Willis’ physical stature, he’s wrong about his analysis, and Willis is happily proving him wrong by using both his arms and legs to get the Packers to 2-1.
Like Willis, Fields was also highly criticized during his tenure in Chicago despite having a solid college career.
Fields was a star in his two seasons at Ohio State, compiling a 20-2 record while throwing for 5,373 yards, 63 TDs and 9 INTs. He also added another 867 yards and 15 TDs on the ground. In 2021, Fields single-handedly destroyed Trevor Lawrence and Clemson in the first round of the College Football Playoffs.
But that performance failed to convince the scouts that he was one of the top QBs that year and he was selected after the number one overall pick, Lawrence, Zach Wilson (2nd overall to the Jets) and Trey Lance (3rd to the 49ers). Mac Jones (15th, Patriots) was the last QB taken in the first round that year.
As of Week 3, Fields is the only quarterback from that class to be on a winning team and only one of two players from that group to be a starting QB (Lawrence, Jacksonville).
Fields had to overcome much more than Willis. First, it was Matt Nagy’s horrendous system that allowed the young quarterback to be battered mercilessly on a weekly basis. If he couldn’t run, his career might have ended after year two in the Windy City.
After the team finally got him a weapon in DJ Moore, Fields got hurt and was replaced by backup Tyson Bagent. While Fields was hurt, critics like Cris Collinsworth pounced.
“These couple of games, however long Bagent stays the starting quarterback, they’re gonna have Justin Fields study this guy,” said Collinsworth after Bagent’s second game as the Bears’ starting QB.
The criticisms continued thanks to “experts” like Todd McShay, who suggested that the Panthers should trade Fields and draft Bryce Young with the first overall pick in 2023. This is the same McShay who felt the Eagles would essentially be downgrading the team by making Jalen Hurts their starter.
To his credit, Fields never complained or disparaged the team. He got back on the field and ran for his life for the remainder of the season.
Now he’s in Pittsburgh, reborn as the talent many of us knew he was.
Willis’ stint with the Titans was much more brief as he wasn’t given the chance Fields was, and his time was basically over when the team drafted Will Levis last season.
So it was on to Green Bay in a quiet trade. But after two weeks, Packers fans are saying it was a priceless one after Willis has won two straight and looks like the threat he was at Liberty University.
Fields and Willis exemplify the challenge many young Black quarterbacks in the NFL face. They’re not given the time or talent to support their development, so they often struggle, which leads to harsh, and unfair, criticisms.
Look at Bryce Young, who was done so very wrong by the Panthers. They threw him to the wolves in an offensive talent-deficient team and then they benched him this past weekend.
If teams allowed more young Black quarterbacks to watch and learn, like the time Steve McNair was afforded, they could have better-developed talents like Jalen Hurts and Jordan Love.
Instead, in the case of Justin Fields and Malik Willis, they were never given a real opportunity to showcase what they could do despite showing it in college.
But now, Fields is leading the undefeated Steelers and Willis is doing the same for the 2-1 Packers, and both men are finally happy and doing what they do best.
Be quarterbacks.
