Could Steve Verderosa be the reason behind Justin Fields' draft stock questions?

Former New York Giants Scout Steve Verderosa

Steve Verderosa is a three-time Super Bowl champion. He also has 33 years of experience as an NFL scout. Verderosa spent time as a scout for the New York Giants before being relieved of his duties. Steven Verderosa is now an NFL Draft Analyst for the Pro Football Network website.

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Could Steve Verderosa be the reason behind Justin Fields' draft stock questions?

Ohio State QB Justin Fields

Steve Verderosa expressed his concerns about Justin Fields on the PFN series Breaking Down the Board. Verderosa made some rough comments about Justin Fields not being able to beat out Jake Fromm at Georgia for the starting quarterback spot. He went on to mention that Fields held on to the ball for too long and needed to avoid anticipated throws.

Did Justin Fields make a Kyle Shanahan tweak to his mechanics for his second pro day? It appears so, and the 49ers were all smiles watching the star QB (via @DaltonJ_Johnson) https://t.co/RETxb5nvq4 pic.twitter.com/UcmAx4ceEI

— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) April 15, 2021

Steve Verderosa also went on to say that he didn't have Justin Fields as a first-round quarterback prospect. That's what Verderosa had to say about Fields on Breaking Down the Board.

“I like him, I don’t love him — I would not draft this player in the first round. I graded these players off the tape that I watched. Based on my evaluation, to me, he’s the bottom of the second round. You love his physical talent. But I question the mental part of his game, based on the tape that I watched.”

Steve Verderosa called Justin Fields a risk/reward player in this year's draft. Verderosa compared Fields to Josh Allen when it came to talent that wasn't refined enough at first. Steve also had this to say about Justin Fields.

"What you're going to find with Justin Fields is a guy that's going to show up now with a chip on his shoulder."ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit sent a message to anyone doubting Ohio State's Justin Fields going into the 2021 NFL Draft:https://t.co/MExG8oyFYX pic.twitter.com/yebUJ7a6i6

— 247Sports (@247Sports) April 15, 2021

“Always talk about what they can do first, because the negative stuff will stick in people’s memory banks a lot more than what a guy can do. Justin Fields is a risk/reward player. If this guy is able to figure it out, go to the right place with the right coaches, he could really flourish. The big talk about Josh Allen up in Buffalo was, ‘he’s not accurate’… but guess what? He got some really good coaching and he played great this year. Players get better. For Justin Fields, I hope it happens.”

Just because Steve Verderosa graded Justin Fields as a second-round quarterback doesn't mean that he will fall to the second-round. Fields has tremendous upside and with the right coaching he has the potential to be a franchise quarterback in the NFL.