Before the start of the season, NFL analyst Chris Simms was criticized for his evaluation of Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields, ranking him the 39th quarterback in the NFL.
Fields ranked far below other quarterbacks taken in the 2021 NFL draft, including Trevor Lawrence (28th), Zach Wilson (27th) and Mac Jones (30th), as well as Andy Dalton (29th), who was replaced by Fields officially in Week 5.
And, exactly as Simms noted back in May, Fields is making him “eat my words.”
On the latest episode of Chris Simms Unbuttoned, Simms owned up to the fact that he made a mistake ranking Fields among the worst on his Top 40 quarterbacks list.
“I’m already feeling as far as all the quarterbacks in my rankings that I’m the most wrong about him (Fields),” Simms said. “I know I made him 5-6 to begin with and that’s the one I’m looking at.”
Someone who also ranked above Fields was No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance (38th), who’s started one game in relief of an injured Jimmy Garoppolo. Simms acknowledged Fields is the better quarterback right now.
“To me he’s light years ahead of Trey Lance right now,” Simms said. “He’s not as raw. He knows how to play the position a little bit more rather than just being a great athlete who plays the position.
“And that’s what I like from him and of course he knows how to handle himself and do everything else the right way, too.”
While Fields hasn’t been lighting it up in the box score and has been going through typical rookie growing pains, he continues to develop with each passing game and is showing he can develop into a special player.
The hope is, eventually, Fields will make those teams that passed on him in the 2021 NFL draft eat their words, too.
