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Here are the QBs that have undoubtedly shown higher level play than Fields

Mahomes

Tua

Burrow

Hurts

Purdy

Allen

Lamar

Murray

Rodgers

Herbert

Dak

Russell

Goff

Stroud

Lawrence

Stafford

Cousins

Carr

Baker

Geno

Howell

Question marks on Dobbs and Levis due to a very low sample.

So running it through, Fields is a better starter than the 2023 edition of Jimmy G, Jordan Love, Daniel Jones, Browns version of Watson, Pickett, Minshew(for now), Either Atlanta QBs, Mac Jones and Bryce Young.

There are 21 guys there producing better QB play than Fields, and two with question marks over them. I can respect questions on Geno, the rookies and Howell as it’s quite a low sample. But I think Stroud has wowed everyone.

Giants, Raiders, Atlanta, Pats will have new QBs next year. Panthers, Packers and Browns won’t because it’s either a first year starter or a bad contract.

The Bears need better QB play and are in a better position than the Giants, Raiders, Atlanta or the Pats to select one. There’s no doubt for me

The “draft MHJ and trade down” contingent are surely a mix of Fields truthers and Ohio State fans. Or both.

Caleb and Maye are in the top 5 QB prospects Dane Brugler and Nate Tice have ever evaluated. Lawrence, Luck, Caleb, Maye, Burrow.

Caleb is considered to be the best prospect Joel Klatt has ever evaluated.

Daniel Jeremiah and Lance Zierlein believe Caleb is the 3rd best prospect they’ve ever evaluated, only behind Lawrence and Luck.

Somehow people are overthinking this.

Listen, i’m not saying his time isn’t coming to an end at the elite level. But one poor season in 23 years does not call for some of the revisionism occurring here lately. Arguably, the defences he’s still producing (2022, 2021, 2020) have kept the Patriots from rebuilding properly. It isn’t easy in this league to escape from 8-8 hell without a franchise QB.

“Brady made him”. You can use whatever stat you want here, but let’s use the most basic one. Points allowed per game. Of course there are influences here. Time of possession, special teams, ability to generate turnovers. But at its most basic level this is what determines the result of a game.

Brady had 20 seasons as a Patriot. He had a top 10 defence in 17 of them. In 3 super bowl victories, the Patriots played 3 of the top 15 offences in NFL history. 01 Rams, 16 Falcons and 18 Rams. 17 points, 22 points(pick six), 3 points. Even throw the record breaking 04 Colts in there, 3 pts. If we change to PTS per drive, he still has 15 top 10 defences!

Manning had 4, Rodgers had 3, Brees had 2. All three had great ball security and time of possession.

Is Brady the GOAT, yes. His consistency in clutch moments puts him ahead of the likes of Peyton and Rodgers. Did he make Bill the greatest defensive mind in history, no!

Brady record when scoring 20+in the playoffs: 32-4. Rodgers is 12-9 in this statistic for a direct comparison.

Average finish in points per drive among notable QBs

Brady: 9th

Rivers: 15th

Peyton: 18th

Rodgers: 18th

Brees: 20th

Mahomes: 20th

And we are trying to pretend Bill didn’t give Brady a significant advantage over his peers? Another 2 super bowls as a DC.

Of course there’s the easy explanation of Fields truthers. But I don’t believe that’s a majority. Let’s look at some of the most hyped prospects at both positions since the turn of the century. There will be a couple of interchangeable ones, but based on media hype and scout evaluations this is what I think.

QB: Lawrence, Luck, Eli Manning, Bradford, RG3, Winston, Burrow, Cam Newton and Carson Palmer.

I’d say Caleb slots in here above Eli and Bradford. Maye probably doesn’t make the top 10 yet, but based on some people liking him ahead of Caleb, who’s the most hyped prospect since T Law, He probably makes that list by the end of the draft year.

The busts here are probably Winston due to his high interception rate, but scouts knew that and liked his physical talent. However, as turnover prone as he is, his 2016, 2019 and 2021 years were pretty good. 5000 yards even with a lot of turnovers shows he had talent. And both Bradford and RG3 got ruined by injuries. So that’s 3/10, certainly not a bad rate. The other 7 were/are franchise QBs.

WR: Megatron, AJ Green, Julio Jones, Larry Fitz, Charles Rogers, Chase, Braylon Edwards, Amari Cooper, Justin Blackmon, David Terrell.

Rogers busted due to off field issues. Braylon Edwards had one solid season but had a bad attitude, Blackmon was incredible but had off the field issues, David Terrell was bad. There’s a few you could add here (Jeudy, Corey Davis was a bit of a reach but still a good prospect, maybe Crabtree). That’s 4/10 busts. MHJ probably slots just behind Larry Fitz.

Of course Megatron, Fitz and Julio are hall of famers, and Chase and Green could be. Cooper is solid. But you can say the same for the QBs to a degree.

Luck was clearly on hall of fame trajectory, Eli may get in one day, had some great years. Lawrence looks good with a 26 TD 8 INT showing last year, and Palmer, Burrow and Cam Newton are all/were franchise QBs.

Not to mention WR is a much less valuable position.

This begs the question, why the hesitance with Caleb/Maye, but the “can’t miss” tag on MHJ?