Washington Football Team Mock Draft: WFT lands a falling QB in simulation

Round 1, Pick 19: QB Justin Fields, Ohio State

Imagine my surprise when Justin Fields was still on the board at 19 and other teams were ringing Washington’s phones trying to trade up.

I’m not going to lie, I did struggle for a moment thinking about picking another Ohio State quarterback after all the issues the franchise had with Dwayne Haskins.

That moment passed quickly and I selected Justin Fields with no hesitation given his franchise-changing potential and the leadership he displayed with the Buckeyes.

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Fields was a five-star high school recruit and he continued to excel on the field during his collegiate career. At 6-foot-3, 228 pounds, he has good size for a quarterback, and his accuracy on the move and his ability to run adds to his versatile skill-set, something Coach Rivera values on his roster.

The biggest thing that I saw from Fields came during the College Football Playoff semifinal. In that game, showed his toughness and resilience in overcoming an injury to lead his team to the National Championship Game.

After suffering a brutal hit from James Skalski, who was ejected for targeting, Fields left the game for one play, before coming right back and throwing a touchdown pass to put the Buckeyes up by 14.

That toughness and whatever-it-takes attitude are what every coach wants in the leader of their franchise. Fields would finish out the game, helping Ohio State handily defeat Clemson for the first time, while completing 22 of his 28 passes for 385 yards and six touchdowns.

Yes, Fields does have his weaknesses and some have questioned his ability to get through his reads, but as a young quarterback, he has a lot of the intangibles needed to thrive in the league. If he can live up to that potential, he would become the franchise quarterback Washington has sorely been lacking for ages.