Should The Broncos Have Drafted Justin Fields

When you look at the Broncos’ QB competition for this summer, you see Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater, two quarterbacks that are fighting to stay in the league. Those two players are very underwhelming to fans and the quarterback remains one of the weakest positions for the team.

Many fans, writers, and analysts had the Broncos picking Justin Fields 9th overall, Todd McShay from ESPN, Dane Brugler from The Athletic, and Vinnie Iyer from Sporting News thought the Broncos would address the need for a franchise QB with their first-round selection. Fields would make the Broncos an instant playoff contender because of his running ability, accuracy, ability to extend plays with his legs, and ability to throw into tight windows. Fields has shown toughness and that he can play with competition, considering Ohio State beat Clemson in the College Playoff Semifinals and played like an NFL team. 

Denver has a steller upcoming defense, a talented young receiving core, and an offensive line that improved drastically from 2019, cutting down total offensive line penalties from 29 to 20 and individual penalties. The Broncos would already be in a favorable position to challenge the Chargers for second place in the competitive AFC West. Denver showed they can match with the Chargers as they beat them 31-30 in week 3 and lost to them 19-16 in week 16, add Justin Fields into the mix and every offensive stat improves. The Broncos rushing and passing attack was weak and aren’t up for any major improvements in the upcoming season. Fields could have taken attention off of Melvin Gordon and put more onto himself as a runner, more options aren’t a bad thing.

Justin’s 2020 season got off to a late start but still amassed over 2000 passing yards and 22 touchdowns during Ohio State’s 8 game season. Justin would more than likely have won the starting job in Denver and you can only assume that he would play better than Lock or Bridgewater.