Welcome back to First Draft! As the draft inches closer, Mel Kiper Jr. and Field Yates react to the Justin Fields trade!
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Welcome in to another edition of first draft and with the first week of NFL free agency now behind us sort of feels like the rest of the world is ready to join us here in giraffe season I’m field Yates and the man who I’m talking to today needs to introduction he is Mel
Kyper Jr we’re back Mel and Justin Fields has officially been traded how the heck are you I’m good Phil got a lot to cover you got your updated top 15 ma what’s it the the 1.1 you 2.0 coming in early April yeah yeah yeah 3.0 for me’s coming out
On Thursday so actually tomorrow we’ll talk about it on Thursday as well so a lot of news and notes feel but let’s get right to it because I know you adjusted adapted to what free agency has brought us and and the Justin Fields trade I got
A lot to say about this one fi yeah take it away man what were your thoughts on this Justin Fields trade that sends him from Chicago to Pittsburgh the cost is a 2025 sixth round pick that can become a fourth round pick amazing it was a giveaway it was
Basic a gift uh you know the AFC North can’t be thrilled about the Steelers Landing Justin fields of I’m the Ravens the Browns the Bengals this the last thing I wanted to see happen here because Justin Fields is a talent he’s won he’s produced he’s shown exciting
Future potential as to how he can Ascend how far he can Ascend in the quarterback rankings if he develops in certain areas which we know what they are we’ll get into that today but to to do this to me and this giveaway of a trade when you
Could have kept him because say well you can’t keep him and Caleb Williams why the heck not okay go back to when Troy Aman was there number one pick overall J Johnson drafted his quarterback at Miami okay Steve Walsh had him there a couple years traded him to New Orleans for a
One two and a three go back to Joe Montana Hall of Fame Court Steve Young was brought in they had a coexist right wasn’t great but they had a coexist then you go to Patrick Mahomes right Patrick Mahomes was brought in when they had Alex Smith Alex Smith was the
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes sat for a year basically red shirted so for me if Justin Fields is the better quarterback this year he plays if it’s Caleb Williamson he plays what have you lost feel by keeping him you’re not getting anything anyway for Justin Fields so if he can’t beat out Caleb Williams and
He’s not the guy or he plays and he struggles who cares you weren’t getting anything so to me I’m letting it play out I’m letting Justin fields and Caleb Williams battle Caleb Williams doesn’t like it too bad Pat him on the shoulder Say Caleb you you’re the guy you’ll
Prove to be the guy if you are the guy you will prove to be the guy so I’m gonna let it play there’s no way I’m gonna give him away for a sixth in 2025 that can become a four no way yeah I’ve seen a lot of people that have had a
Similar reaction to what you have I did see it differently here I felt like Chicago needed to move on from Justin Fields because when they take presumably carolb Williams number one overall I am of the mind that over the past half decade or so we have seen more teams
Ruin quarterbacks on top of quarterbacks not holding up their end of the bargain but too often players are ruined by the franchise around them I believe you need to empower these quarterbacks as much as possible and while you’re right a little bit of competition can be healthy for
The soul I think it creates a very unique Dynamic and perhaps an awkward one when you have two capable players in the quarterback room with no clear like you know front runner or no clear top dog I’m imagining a scenario where it goes like this Justin Fields plays well
At the beginning of the Season can hold off Caleb Williams and then the minute he struggles Caleb Williams is pressed into action well then fast forward things a little bit Caleb plays great that would be ideal for the bears but if he has rookie moments then people are
Saying bring Justin Fields back into the mix I think the quarterback Clarity is important here Mel and I think the league showed us how they view Justin Fields because the price was only a six round pick that can become a four next year I thought the league would value
Justin fields at a much higher rate than it did but it sounds like there is less optimism about the player that Justin Fields is now and can be going forward than we thought there was maybe even as little as a week ago I’ll say this about the league the
League’s clueless when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks that’s been proven time and again they were clueless back in the 50s 60s and 70s they’re clueless to today they have no idea how to valuate quarterbacks they don’t know him when they get to see him in college
They don’t know him once they’re in the NFL they don’t know him at all okay so again Justin fields and in Pittsburgh now becomes a guy that they can put packages in even if Russell Wilson’s a starter work Justin fields in if Wilson’s struggling and Fields can be
The guy what’s the difference in there cuz you got Caleb Williams and he’s coming in you got to make sure Caleb’s happy no I’m old school field back in the day every quarterback competed you had guys there they get the job they not and ultimately the best guy it’s going
To flush out the best guy is gonna get the job he’s gonna secure that job and he’s going to maintain that job I like win-wins if Justin or Caleb hey if Justin turns out to be great you trade Caleb if Justin’s not great and Caleb has to be quarterback because Justin
Just isn’t getting it done you’re you gave up you you got nothing you got nothing you gave Justin Fields away for nothing so if you if he’s not the guy you you cut ties you move on let somebody else get him for nothing because you got nothing yeah well we
Could really talk about this for the entirety of the show we can certainly get into a little bit more when we dive in to the mini mock draft in just a little bit here I will say this for those that are going to say well if you
Don’t believe that you should have two quarterbacks in the room do you also not like the move for Pittsburgh my answer is no I do like it for Pittsburgh because the Dynamics are so different Kaleb Williams number one overall pick at the beginning of hopefully a 10-year
Career as opposed to Russell Wilson a one-year minimum salary contract who is just released with the largest dead cap hit in NFL history of $85 million bringing Justin fields in to meet does not complicate that quarterback room that much that even though the Steelers are saying will be Russell Wilson’s job
I believe it’ll be a competition in Pittsburgh May the best man win all right coming up we dive into my mini mock 2.0
34 Comments
I can only hear Ty Schmitt
Mel Kiper shut up. Fields had his chance. 3 years. He completely failed in his last game against the Packers. Folded like a cheap suit. Not even one TD. Could’ve showed something there. Instead Love outplayed him. That’s not a sign of a winner. Good kid, but Fields is garbo. Williams may or may not be the answer, but it’s time to try a new QB and what better than the number one pick caliber QB.
The Browns and Ravens will destroy Justin Fields unless he drastically improves.
Chicago Bears botched this. Waited too long, and got nothing. #1 would've got a Kings ransom. If Caleb does an Eli Manning? Fire everyone
Worked out for Farve and Rodgers
Fields would have been pissed. Yeah Mel let’s see you tell Caleb Williams to bad. You know players watch how other players are treated right?
If any team deserves a gift it definitely was mike Tomlin and the Steelers because he made the playoffs with below avg QBs
Kuipers right and goes a lot further back
Billy Kilmer backed up Sonny jurgensen
Joe theismann backed up Billy kilmer
Earl morrall backed up Bob griese
And of course all of my browns quarterbacks this century have pretty much all been backups…😎
Bears wasted 3 years with Fields ineptitude & Justinsexuals are encouraged to follow him to Pittsburghs bench
Horrible in the 4th quarter and a turnover machine. Time to move on🤦🏽♂️
Bad teams quit on young qbs, all the time. Instead of building around them, and providing them with qualified coaches. Then the coaches pretend they had nothing to do with it.
Biggest L in Chicago Bears history
Justin will use this to become one of the best QBs in the league in A few years watch.
The bears "fans" who wanted him traded, will be calling for his replacement to be traded in 3 years, just like Fields, in Chicago you have a couple of years then they start over. No wonder they never win anything.
I agree with Mel. Keep Justin. Why trade him for a pack of bubblegum. Most ridiculous thing I’ve seen. Better draft Jayden Daniels after trading 1st pick for the 2nd pick. No to primo donna Caleb. Justin was a mature man. Caleb, I feel will be difficult to deal with.
What I learned in this process is the sad truth that the league doesn’t value the style of the black QB it’s that simple.
No GM willingly passes up better offers to do a player a solid. Not when their job depends on it and especially not when they spent 3 years doing said player NO favors. That whole story is meant to save face. Poles turned down better offers trying to play hardball and got burned. Then took whatever deal from whatever team Justin wanted to go to when he had no other options.
only if you also say the Bears have never successfully developed a QB. Fields on the right team would have had a different result or at least a chance at it. I subscribe to situations being a major influence in outcome. I suppose it’s easier to say his team didn’t win and he can’t do it but I think it’s more complex than that.
Da bears shouldve of let them compete in camp if caleb is a bust im no longer a bears fan
135 sacks 30 INTs 40 games does not look like a great QB.
Mel is right that the Bears could have received more in a trade, IF they did it earlier AND had a realistic understanding of the market. After all, there were other lesser backup type QBs that garnered better trade compensation (Ritter, Pickett….maybe Howell). Mel is also right the Bears could have kept Fields and let them compete. BUT, the Bears would have to put in the more Pro-style offense to suit Williams' game because he's obviously the future. Also, once the big rookie is made the starter, you can't pull him as a starter (except for injury)…because you don't want him playing frightened of making a mistake and getting pulled. But, I don't know if Fields was loved in the locker room. If he was, then you need to ship him off for the sake of the locker room (not for Williams' ego). BTW, it's so funny to hear Mel crack on NFL talent evaluators when he isn't any better….just louder. If it was easy then all the TV guys would be making millions as GMs.
Mel kiper just be yapping what does he know more than the league when it comes to evaluating QBs 😂
Poles and promises are like pie crust,they will either be eaten or broken. Poles has to have this team winning more games than they are losing. For example, in his third season of the rebuild, and having spent twice as much $$$ as his predecessor – Poles has to win, at least, 12 games simply to match Ryan Poles in his third season. Let's see how this all plays out before we crown him "King Poles."
Mel makes too much sense, and Bears didn't have the confidence in their coaching staff to have both QBs competing.
Poles waited for the QB Market to dry up… you may ask why? Because this guarantees that JF1 wouldn’t be a starter or be in a position to compete. This helps alleviate pressure off Caleb, Flus and Poles. If not they’d have a week to comparison of CW and JF. Poles is a Dbag.
So are you, You guys are the ones who destroyed Justin Fields trade value. I didn’t believe that the front offices of NFL teams listen to you talking heads. However that proved to not be the case. So when you started putting these ideas into their heads they believed what you were preaching. You brought the value down with your words. I’d never listen to someone who has 20 something percent accuracy rate. More than 80 percent of the time you guys are wrong. So please don’t act like you guys didn’t play a part in the Justin Fields development. All that fall at your door.
It was reported at least four other teams were interested in fields but he wanted Pitt. I can imagine two of those teams being Raiders and/or Jets
Poles is weak…and he could’ve turned the Bears into a dynasty. Now, everything rests on the whims of a kid from California that seems to have issues.
Bears probably cost themselves a 2nd or 3rd rounder catering to fields! He was paid well, and it's a business, so I dont understand why the bears just gave himaway!
Talent, all he does is run, has he shown you?He can read defense.Find the open receivers or throw accurate passes no
Fields is a bust and everyone knows that. Fields hasn't won in the nfl, he has been horrific with games on the line in the 4th quarter. If Mel likes it, do the opposite, he is clueless
but he said bears to trading him like he knows mel is a know body
Quarters backs arent the problem its the lack of coaching. These coaches are lazy and want everyone else to put in the work while they take all the credit if he pans out and blame the QB if it doesnt …
AGREE 110% WITH MEL