QB Fields, WR Smith throw draft curveballs … With barely over a week to go until the 2021 draft, teams with high picks in this year’s opening round have been thrown a couple of nasty breaking curveballs. For starters, Ohio State QB Justin Fields has reportedly told teams that he has a epileptic condition that he is managing. Epilepsy is a neurological condition can cause seizures and is usually treated with medication, although different cases can call for different medical approaches. Fields has indicated that he has not been affected by the condition on the field and that his symptoms have moderated in recent years. Still, not the kind of news Fields wanted to have to pass on to NFL teams as he tries to establish himself as a top 5-10 QB prospect, although we also should note that teams have in fact likely have had the information for some time now.
Meanwhile, Alabama WR DeVonta Smith reportedly only weighed in at a spindly 166 pounds at the medical testing in Indianapolis earlier this month. The one knock on Smith, who was awarded this year’s Heisman winner after he posted an historical receiving campaign with the Tide, is that he’s awfully skinny and might have trouble holding up in the very physical NFL. Indeed, there are some whispers that more than one team out there has Smith ranked behind his Alabama teammate Jaylen Waddle as the #2 WR in this year’s class and that there is a better than even chance Smith falls out of the top ten.
