Justin Fields needs to show knowledge of the playbook
One of the main edges that Andy Dalton has on Justin Fields is his veteran knowledge of the game and ability to make pre-snap reads. Unfortunately, Fields won’t be able to have that knowledge of the game for years to come. Because of that, Fields needs to work around that by learning and knowing the playbook like the back of his hand.
This isn’t a concern to me as Fields already proves to have incredible knowledge and the ability to memorize a playbook. Prior to the 2021 NFL Draft, Mark Sanchez reported on the Pat McAfee show that Fields took the mental aptitude test that has been given to athletes since 2012. This test gives each athlete a learning efficiency rating. Fields scored a 130, which was good for the highest score ever.
Fields memorizing the playbook will show that he is ready to play. Although he can’t make the pre-snap reads and read a defense quite like Dalton, proving to Nagy that he can process the playbook easily and knows it well could aid in his ability to beat out Dalton. Again, it’s unlikely he will read a defense quite like Dalton in the near future, so he needs to make up for that with knowledge.