In the past three years Georgia has signed a five-star quarterback who started as a freshman, a four-star quarterback who started as a freshman and led the Bulldogs to the national championship game and a five-star quarterback who is considered the best prospect of them all.
The first five-star has already transferred from Georgia.
As fans get giddy for the latest wave of blue-chip quarterbacks to enter college football it is important to remember, life moves fast. Who would have thought Jacob Eason would be old news in Athens by 2018 back on signing day 2016?
A look at where the top-10 quarterbacks as rated by 247 Sports’ composite rankings are headed, what kind of competition awaits and how the new arrival might affect the QBs already on the roster (year is eligibility in 2018)…
2. Justin Fields, Georgia
Depth chart: Jake Fromm, sophomore.
Outlook: Fromm was great but Fields gets Cam Newton comparisons. That doesn’t sound like the type of prospect who will be content sitting the bench for two years if he can’t wrestle the job from Fromm. And why would a quarterback who almost won a national championship want to be content as a backup? This could get interesting quickly.
You get the impression the pundits are going to be disappointed if Kirby manages an orderly succession at the position.
What’s the over/under on the number of times the Fromm-Fields question comes up during the G-Day broadcast?
Get The Picture 
I know Fields is going to play and probably play more than we expect. I can see Chaney using him like we have used the running backs in the Wild Dawg but with a true passing threat.
I don’t see him overtaking Fromm as the starter unless Jake gets injured and is out for an extended period. Jake has proven he can excel under the bright lights of the biggest games we’ve played in since 1982-83.
I don’t see how Fromm loses the job. He’s a cool competitor and this team’s leader.
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If CKS only gave Eason mop-up time…and he had a year as the starter under his belt…why should he be in a rush to install a true freshman? Looks to me like Smart’s philosophy is ” if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it”.
Solid but not spectacular. That’s Jake Fromm in a nutshell.
He got ‘er done. He is one confident young man. Jake made his throws, lumbered for big gains on occasion, didn’t turn it over, and was an unbelievable leader for a true freshman. Those are things that very, very few kids, less than a year out of high school, can accomplish. Hell, he went from playing on middle Georgia HS fields on Friday nights to playing Notre Dame and Alabama in front of a zillion viewers. No sweat!. And he’ll only be better this year.
And with a very good to excellent offensive line and another strong stable of running backs, Fromm will be even more solid.
Fields may be spectacular, but as a true freshman he isn’t going to beat out someone performing on the level JF has and will be playing at.
The caveat would be a Fromm injury. Then we would see Fields, if he is ready, with Bennett as the back-up. If Fields isn’t ready, then it’s probable we’ll have a preferred walk-on leading the team.
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(and ee…I know you weren’t saying Fields would start. I agree with your points. Just saw fit to put my thoughts under yours)
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Your first sentence above appears contradictory, but that depends upon the reader. My natural thought extension was that Kirby has already placed a Freshman into harness who had taken a Freshman’s place who had a year under his belt, so why wouldn’t he do it again?
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“Why wouldn’t he do it again?”
One was 13 & 2, led his team to a SEC championship and MNC runner-up. He replaced the other guy, the 8 & 5 one. Probably just me, but I would think another freshman coming in would have a tough time replacing the 13 & 2 fellow….but if he can better what he did, I’m all for it.
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Yeah, there are a lot of variables, one being that it may depend upon how quickly Justin absorbs the playbook, something he is working on as we type.
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Fromm replaced an injured Eason. Who knows what happens if that injury never happened? Once Fromm started making hay, CKS wasn’t going to disturb things. Unless Fromm takes an unexpected step backwards or is injured, he’s the man. (or until Fields completes one more pass than Fromm in the Spring game. : ) )
It’s nice to have such problems.
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whatever the outcome, it will make both players better. Fromm doesn’t need much motivation and Fields will have to work his tail off on and off the field if he hopes to unseat Fromm. Wins all the way around.
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Huh. This is very interesting. Part of me wants to pound on a drum and chant “Red Shirt”. After all, that’s what I hoped would happen last year. (Tasty, tasty, crow.) Now I’m not so sure. But I wouldn’t want to lose either one of them due to competition, even though I haven’t seen Fields play at all. What’s a poor Dawg fan to do????
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I would have loved for Eason to have come out and thrown for 3,500 yards with the same season outcome while Fromm redshirted. Once Eason got hurt, Fromm took advantage and never let Eason have a chance to take the job back. Fromm got his shot and clearly made the most of it. We’re all better for it, and now I hope Jacob goes to Seattle and sets the Pac 12 on fire in 2019.
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Think most of us agree with that plus wish that he didn’t have to wait a year due to an unfair rule on his future. There should be exceptions to that rule as in this case. Any chance that rule will be changed this year and make him eligible by Fall?
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Now that we is QB “po”, our fantasies can be directed at the capable (?) walk-ons.
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Having two highly rated qbs on the roster is a huge problem. I definitely miss the days when we had Joe Cox or tereshinski as our back up or better yet 2015 when we had 3 count’em 3 back up qbs we could rotate in and out. It was so reassuring knowing those guys would never get poached by another school and wouldn’t challenge the starting qb for his job. Why can’t Kirby find some more no talent 3 stars with 5 star hearts to play qb?
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Charlottedawg gets it. Kirby has taken our QB martyrdom away from us, dammit. I don’t know what to fret about anymore …….
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I remember Stafford getting pulled and Cox bringing us back vs. Colorado at home in 2006.
I also just saw a kid who was 27-1 as a starter get yanked in the biggest game of the season and it worked.
You just never know.
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Too soon Derek too soon. Still hurts.
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Anyone know when the potential new red shirt rule could be enacted? any possibility it could be in place by fall 2018? If so we could potentially still play Fields and preserve a redshirt
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2018/01/13/college-football-redshirt-rule/1031174001/
http://footballscoop.com/news/sounds-like-new-redshirt-rule-going-pass/
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