Private quarterbacks coach John Beck, a former NFL quarterback who spent time with the Miami Dolphins, Baltimore Ravens, Washington Football Team, and Houston Texans, has worked with former Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields this offseason. Fields, of course, is the favorite to be drafted No. 3 overall by the San Francisco 49ers.
Beck has also been working with Trey Lance of North Dakota State and Zach Wilson of BYU.
Matt Barrows of The Athletic wrote a feature about Beck this week. The quarterback turned coach worked with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan during their time together in Washington, and the two remain close. That has likely been very beneficial as the Niners continue gathering information on Fields to go along with their homework on Trey Lance of North Dakota State and Mac Jones of Alabama.
"Knowing that I've been around (Fields) the last three months, he'll reach out and just want to ask questions or talk," Beck told The Athletic. "... I know how he's going to coach quarterbacks. I know what he's looking for. So I think it's an easy extension of Kyle in terms of the eyes I have for quarterbacks."
According to Michael Silver of NFL Media, Beck isn't the only resource linked to Fields who has ties to Shanahan. Another private coach who has been working with the former Buckeye is Ron Veal (h/t to Patrick Tulini for the find).
Veal is reportedly an original staff member of the QB Collective, an organization made up of NFL coaches and experts who work with young quarterbacks. The QB Collective has ties to Kyle and his father, Mike Shanahan, and Veal remains "heavily involved."
THREAD 1) There has been a lot of talk recently about the connection between John Beck, who is privately coaching Justin Fields, and Kyle (and Mike) Shanahan, who were Beck's OC and HC, respectively, when he was a Washington backup in 2010-11. Here's another layer to consider...
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) April 15, 2021
2) Another of Fields' private coaches is Ron Veal, who has spent 3 months working with him in Southern California during this draft cycle. @rvfc10 is an original staff member of, is heavily involved with, the @QBCollective, which also has ties to the Shanahans...
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) April 15, 2021
3) Mike Shanahan attended the first @QBCollective event in 2016 and has been a mainstay. Both Kyle Shanahan and Justin Fields (then a top high school prospect) attended the 2017 event, as did Veal...
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) April 15, 2021
4) I profiled the @QBCollective in 2019 for @nflnetwork...https://t.co/jo4IzKqG1e
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) April 15, 2021
Jones had been the favorite to land with San Francisco via the draft. However, since Fields' workout in front of several NFL teams this week, including the 49ers, the Ohio State product now has the best odds to head to the Bay Area.
Fields is also the favorite amongst fans, who would love to see the dynamic passer paired with a brilliant play-caller like Shanahan.
The 2021 NFL Draft is scheduled to begin on April 29 and will be held in Cleveland, Ohio.