ESPN/SEC college football analyst, D.J. Shockley, joined the Midday Show with Andy and Randy to speak out in favor of Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields.
ESPN's Dan Orlovsky appeared on the "Pat McAfee Show" and had a questionable response to a question on why Fields was seemingly falling in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Orlovsky said NFL teams were questioning Fields' work ethic and desire to be a great quarterback.
“One, I have heard that he is a last-guy-in, first-guy-out type of quarterback,” Orlovsky said. “Like, not the maniacal work ethic. I’ve even heard it compared to Justin Herbert, where it was like, dude, when Justin Herbert showed up, he was like a psychopath when it came to working and get ready for the draft. Or even at school, like, ‘Give me more, I want to work non-stop.’ And I’ve heard that there are issues with Justin Fields’ work ethic.
“The second thing is … Where is his desire to go be a great quarterback? I think that there’s a desire to be a big-time athlete, from what is expressed to me, but where is his desire to be a great quarterback? And to be great, you gotta be willing to find the things that you are not good at and just freaking grind on them.”
Shockley, who knows Fields, said he had to speak out because what Orlovsky was reporting is simply untrue.
"When I saw this, and I saw it multiple times, I started to get fed up with it and I felt like I had to say something because I know the kid," Shockley said.
Shockley has known Fields ever since he got to Georgia and developed a personal relationship with him and his dad.
"I understand where his mindset goes. I understand what type of person he is, for one, but then I even knew what kind of player he is. And I knew, going through that time in his freshman year, he wasn't playing as much as he wanted to or wasn't being used the way he wanted to--there was a frustration there and I could absolutely understand where he was coming from. I knew the things he was doing behind the scenes to make sure that he was prepared and ready to play.
"And then you take on the fact that, okay, this guy leaves, goes to Ohio State which has just as much eyes on it as the University of Georgia and the dude excels. The dude takes off. The dude has 41 touchdowns in his first year starting and has another 10 on the ground."
"The processing stuff, I just don't understand; the most ridiculous thing that I've ever heard. In order to play at the level he played at and have the amount of success that he had, there has to be some 'processing' going on in a ballgame for him to have that kind of success...when I started to see that kind of stuff, it frustrated me that he was being portrayed in that light because I knew the type of player and person that he is."