‘It wouldn’t be shocking’ to see Justin Fields start week 1

ESPN’s NFL analyst Louis Riddick was a guest on the Rich Eisen show earlier today, and they spent some time talking about this year’s rookie quarterbacks after they all played in their first preseason game. Riddick said he thinks that “this draft class has the potential to be special” as long as their respective organizations can take care of them.

That class of course being Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields, and Mac Jones, but then Riddick spent a little more time specifically talking about the situation with Fields and Chicago Bears.

Riddick, who is very close friends with Bears head coach Matt Nagy, was asked his opinion on Fields showing enough to be named the starter for week one and he said “it wouldn’t be shocking.”

“He wants to do right by Justin,” Riddick said about the thought process that Nagy has in bringing Fields along. “He wants this young man to be that quarterback for the city of Chicago that they basically have never had.”

“If he feels as though Justin can protect himself from a protection stand point,” Riddick said about what Nagy will need to see from Fields before promoting him to QB1, “then he will put him in there.”

Understanding the pass protection fully, knowing where the free rusher is coming from on every play, and having a grasp of his hot routes are some things that young quarterbacks need to know before getting in the game. Riddick said he believes there’s no real set time table, and that it’s just happen organically. Riddick said that Nagy “is not basing this on any thing other than when is he (Fields) ready to go.”

You can check out Riddick’s segment on the Rich Eisen Show right here.