No. 1-ranked QB’s college choice is odd, but not surprising
Justin Fields is the No. 1-ranked high school football player in America, and some recruitniks think he’s the best quarterback prospect in several years.
When Fields announced his decision Friday — complete with a local TV station helicopter overhead — the destination wasn’t a surprise. Well, not in the sense of anticipation — Georgia has been the favorite to land Fields for months.
But it is a surprise because of the circumstances, and also the latest development in a peculiar trend for quarterback recruiting in college football. Elite high school quarterbacks are acting like NBA players, clustering at a handful of destinations.
The problem? Only one of them can play at a time.
Fields, who counts Cam Newton as a mentor and played for his summer 7-on-7 team, will join a Georgia roster that already features a battle for the present and future of the position. Jacob Eason — ex-Jets QB Tony’s kid — arrived last season as a five-star freshman and the No. 2 quarterback in the country, according to the 247Sports composite rankings. He started as a freshman, but got injured early on this season.
Eason might not get his job back, because true freshman Jake Fromm, another top-5 QB prospect, has helped the Bulldogs dispatch Notre Dame, Tennessee and Mississippi State and led them into the top 10 of the national rankings.
So Fields, who was once committed to Penn State and could pick any school in the country, decided to insert himself into that competition. He is a Georgia kid, and his sister is committed to join the Bulldogs as a softball player.
If Fields is truly the best QB prospect in years, he’ll find a way onto the field for the Bulldogs. But there is some inherent risk — Eason and Fromm are also excellent prospects and will have more experience than him. He might have to be patient and wait his turn.
If there’s something we’ve learned in the past decade, it’s that blue-chip quarterbacks don’t like to do that. There’s almost no chance that all three of them will just stick it out and compete for the job — at least one will transfer before their careers are over.
Georgia is not alone with this “problem.” Alabama started freshman Jalen Hurts at quarterback last year, but landed one of the three guys ranked ahead of Fromm, Tua Tagovailoa, and four-star prospect Mac Jones in the 2017 recruiting class. The Crimson Tide were also a finalist for Fields.
Junior Kelly Bryant has helped Clemson not miss a beat without Deshaun Watson, and the No. 2 quarterback from the 2017 class, Hunter Johnson, is behind him on the depth chart. That didn’t stop Trevor Lawrence, the No. 2 QB in the 2018 class, from choosing the Tigers over, wait for it, Georgia.
There can be consequences to hoarding so much talent at the quarterback position. Alabama went into the national championship game last year against Clemson without a scholarship backup quarterback on the roster because four of them decided to leave the program as Hurts took control of the job.
Schools recruiting at the top of the sport — Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Florida State and include Georgia on that list now — are not going to start turning down elite QBs because they already have too many. It’s going to be on the kids to decide if they really want to compete with other elite prospects, or try to find a better path to playing time.
The trend is clear: Most elite high school QBs think they’re going to beat out whoever is front of them.
Fields is just the latest to accept that challenge, and Georgia could have the most talented collection of quarterbacks in the country next year because of it.