Go back to Thursday, April 29, 2021, as the Atlanta Falcons and first-year General Manager Terry Fontenot are on the clock. Atlanta native and Ohio State sensation, Justin Fields, is still on the board. Should the Falcons make the pick?
The Atlanta Falcons notoriously passed on the Harrison High School quarterback on that fateful night, and that decision was met by an uproar in his native city. Now, the prodigal son is making his return to Atlanta as a member of the Chicago Bears having completed 64.13 percent of his passes for 1,087 total yards and 13 total touchdowns in his last four games.
Despite all that, Jon Chuckery is adamant that the Atlanta Falcons made the right decision.
"Do I think the Falcons made a mistake not drafting Justin Fields? Not a bit," Chuckery boldly claimed on Tuesday night. "The Bears are no more on track this year than they were last year."
He has a point: despite the wonderful numbers generated for Justin Fields and the people that have him on their fantasy football teams, it hasn't actually translated to wins. The Bears have only won one of those four aforementioned contests, and they're losers of three straight.
The numbers have been fantastic, but when you look at the actual passing numbers, he's no better than Marcus Mariota -- you know, the guy some Falcons fans are calling for to be benched. Mariota has completed 61.9 percent of his passes for 1,747 yards with an average of 7.6 yards per attempt and 12 touchdowns while Fields has completed 58.9 percent of his passes for 1,489 yards on 7.2 yards per attempt and 12 touchdowns.
"For all of the things that Justin Fields has done -- and he's been outstanding over these last couple of weeks -- it hasn't changed anything about the result of the game," Chuckery continued. "It hasn't influenced what the final outcome was, and that's all that matters in the NFL. People can like that, or not like that. Whatever. All that matters in the NFL is did you win or did you lose?"
Without question, Justin Fields will present the Atlanta Falcons with problems on Sunday, but that does not mean the franchise would be in a better position had they drafted him back on that fateful evening of April 29, 2021.
"Most of those quarterbacks in that 2021 class haven't done anything of any merit," Chuckery finished by saying. "I don't think the Falcons made a mistake not taking Justin Fields."
