Ohio State football: Potential landing spots for Justin Fields in 2021 NFL Draft

Justin Fields 2021 NFL Draft landing spot No. 4: Carolina Panthers

Whenever David Tepper purchased the Carolina Panthers, the expectation was that the new owner would take an extremely aggressive approach to improve the roster in trying to get them into contention. But to this point, their approach has been relatively mundane.

That could change this offseason, though. Carolina is reportedly heavily invested in trying to trade for Deshaun Watson as Tepper wants to upgrade from Teddy Bridgewater and get a game-changer at quarterback. If they miss out on Watson, drafting Fields would not be a tough-to-swallow consolation prize.

Fields could conceivably fall to the No. 8 overall pick where the Panthers currently sit. However, the more likely scenario is that Carolina would have to trade up to draft Fields. If they miss on Watson, that would be a suitable move to build with a high-upside young quarterback.

Justin Fields 2021 NFL Draft landing spot No. 3: Pittsburgh Steelers

Even more so than the Bears in terms of draft positioning, the Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t remotely close to being in a spot right now where Fields would be on the board for them to select. If the Ohio State football product fell to the 24th pick, it would be an absolute travesty.

Having said that, the Steelers aren’t necessarily in a spot where they can afford to wait on finding future options at quarterback. Ben Roethlisberger looked bad at several points throughout last season and there was talk of the Steelers possibly not bringing him back for 2021, though that no longer appears to be the case.

Even with Big Ben back in Pittsburgh for next season, they need a future option. There isn’t an heir to the throne on the roster as of right now and that could debilitate the franchise moving forward. Making an aggressive (and costly) trade up for Fields would alleviate those woes in a massive way, though.