Here’s a very positive assessment of Georgia’s coming season with Jake Fromm at the helm from, of all places, the AJ-C.
The transfer portal opened wide in college football. A lot of talented quarterbacks rushed through it.
Jalen Hurts, formerly of Alabama, will now play at Oklahoma. Austin Kendall, backup to two Heisman Trophy QBs at Oklahoma, is headed to West Virginia.
Ex-Georgia quarterback Justin Fields left for Ohio State, prompting Tate Martell to leave for Miami. Kelly Bryant went to Missouri after Trevor Lawrence emerged as Clemson’s star. Sam Ehlinger starred for Texas, so Shane Buechele is looking for a school to be named later.
Meanwhile, Georgia must settle for Jake Fromm. Tough break for the Bulldogs to be stuck with merely a top-5 quarterback in college football.
Jake Fromm ain’t chopped liver. It’s just that the national media doesn’t find his story particularly sexy. We do, though. And the remaining question is whether the NFL will after this season.
Over at cbssports.com, Chip Patterson says the pros will. In his list of the top 32 draft-eligible prospects, Fromm checks in at number two, only behind Tua.
2. Jake Fromm, QB, Georgia: If Tagovailoa has the absurd statistics, Fromm is going to get equal consideration because he checks so many boxes as a top quarterback prospect. From the Elite 11 and the recruiting process onward, Fromm has found ways to separate himself from the competition with a gamer’s attitude and an arm that can, as they say, “make all the throws.”
I’ve seen Fromm all over the place on 2020 projected draft lists, so it’s hard to say whether Patterson is right. But there’s a whole ‘nother season to play before that matters and Fromm’s going to have a talented, experienced offensive line and backfield to work with as he goes through his third season as Georgia’s starter. It’ll be interesting to see what he can coax out of Georgia’s offense… and his future.
Get The Picture 
The film from the SEC CG and the NCG are going to haunt Tua until he proves he can play at a high level while being harassed. If Fromm is weighted down by the game manager tag, then Tua is weighted down by only looking good when hi team has superior talent.
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I agree. He’s got a lot of room for growth once you start making him play fast.
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Fromm looks like he has a lot of Nick Foles in him – accurate as hell, stays within the offense, gets the ball to the right person in the right spot. Tua tries to force things sometimes, and he’s going to have a lot of tape to look at over the off-season where he’s trying to do something downfield while a wide-open check down and an easy 10 yards just watches helplessly.
That said, Tua just set an NCAA record for QB rating over a season. Beat out the last two Heisman winners for it. Fromm had 3 games with a passer rating over 200 (Middle Tennessee, Vandy, GT) and 1 over 300 (Mass). Tua had 8 games over 200 (including Texas AM, Missouri and Auburn) and 2 over 300 (La Laf, Arkansas). 4 common opponents: Tua +150 QB rating.
Not sure Alabama had that much more talent on offense than Georgia. Alabama just put a lot more on Tua’s shoulders. That’s not a knock on Fromm at all.
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I’d argue that Tua had many more options at the receiver position.
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Based on recruiting stars on the roster at WR and TE, not really. The two teams just used the passing game in different ways.
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Yeah, that was my take as well. We didn’t emphasize the passing game. It was merely to supplement our running game.
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Recruiting rankings don’t mean diddly poo once you are a Jr or RSoph. The fact is Bama had better receivers with more game breaking abilities.
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All of Tua’s WR targets were true freshmen or sophomores. His TE was a junior. Georgia had more experience at the position as well as equal recruiting.
Yes, the results were very different.
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He’s a college kid, gonna stay all 4 imo.
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let’s hope. Not much behind him, but the transfer portal.
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IF he’s a projected top 5 pick after next year, I would think he’s crazy to stay 4.
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P. Manning did it, he was projected early…..and there have been a few more. Just thinks the kid loves college and he stays all 4.
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As we all know, the question is not really whether he’s a first round talent. The question is whether there are enough NFL teams willing to take a risk on a QB in the first round. And the answer, almost always, is yes. Barring injury, I’ll be shocked if he’s still on the board by the middle of the second round.
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Fromm strikes me as a guy who is going to have a 12 year career as an NFL backup.
Which is maybe the best career path one can have in the NFL.
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That’s about what I think. You better be able to deal like Brees or Brady if you’re going to stick as a slow footed qb with the way the game is trending. I really don’t see what makes him a better pro prospect than Arron Murray besides a couple of inches.
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Hey, Murray is a pro qb. Go Atlanta Legends!!!
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I don’t follow it enough to speak intellectually about how successful he will be, but I’d love to see a Georgia QB end up being amongst the legends of the game.
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It’s not like that hasn’t ever happened before: Tarkenton, Bratkowski and even Stafford qualify. And then Andy Johnson, okay not a legend in the NFL as a QB, but he did play one in college. 🙂
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I meant one that we saw on a color television. 😉
Stafford can get there, but the Lions have to get over the hump.
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He’s perfect for the NFL game, and not as a clip board holder.
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He’d better come back for 2020 dammit!
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Really messes up our QB room if he doesn’t. The shame in getting Fields (if he was never going to accept sitting) was that we would have gone after a 5* QB talent this year to get some class spacing while also protecting against Fromm going pro .
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Assuming Plumlee’s still coming, they’ll have two mid-range four stars as a sophomore and redshirt freshman. Maybe neither will be able to play, but it’s not that dire a situation if Fromm leaves early.
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I’m hoping Mathis takes full advantage of the SEC nutrition and S&C this spring/summer and then gets some decent backup reps this fall. If he can get some good reps but still maintain a red shirt, all the better. To me, he has the best upside just because of his size. If we can bulk him up and hone his QB skills, he could work out okay for us.
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It’s not like they won’t make a bowl game given the talent on the team, but it’s dire enough for a team that intends to compete for national championhips every year.
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Not if either of the aforementioned mid-range four-star QBs actually turns out to be good.
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Understood, and I also understand that It’s all somewhat moot if Jake stays and they are also expected to sign CJ Dixon 2020 out of Grays. But, honestly, I don’t love having to modify The Process to add “hope these mid-tier QB’s work out.”
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They aren’t mid-tier. Being rated nearly 9.0 still makes you a blue chip recruit. It just doesn’t make you the elite of the elite.
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I see Jake as a Super Bowl winner in his career. There’s never been a potential “superstar” who’s been so underrated. At the risk of major disagreement from many I say if Bobo was the OC & QB whisperer he would be considered the best in college right now. Thank goodness we have him and not Tua Toyota.
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Did UGA give a blueprint of how to play Tua?
Or is it – only UGA and clampson personnel could execute that blueprint?
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He started the game on one bad ankle and then sprained the other, so take that performance with a grain of salt. But yes, Georgia did a fantastic job of dropping guys into his preferred down field windows and seeing if he had the patience/recognition to take the underneath stuff. Exactly what Clemson did on his second pick.
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I saw two things w/ Tua: 1) he is excellent at the quick slant/hot read.. 2) if he doesn’t check to the hot/quick route, he is looking for a home run, and will extend the play in search of the home run. We were able to stop him in both regards for the most part.
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I’ll be pretty surprised if he leaves after this season, but I wish him the best if he chooses to make the jump. I honestly think if Fromm felt he was on that trajectory, Fields would have stuck around.
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Not sure that Fields wasn’t just a jerk with a selfish attitude. After his decision to leave I looked back over the months he was in Athens and didn’t see a kid really pumped to be on campus. For such a highly decorated athlete coming in, and being a part of a Top 5 college team, he just didn’t give the vibe of someone having fun and enjoying the role of getting so much attention. Totally subjective opinion, more the looks on the face and body language. It was early in the season after the SC game when he made those videoed comments about just handing off the football. Really? After the 2nd game of the year and you already are that disgruntled with your role. Must have been a really terrible, off-target assessment by Fields and his inner-circle if they expected more after his 1st conference game , and the team’s 1st road trip. He may be facing more disappointment if he doesn’t get an attitude adjustment.
I know, it is totally subjective, and taken from afar, but my instincts give me a warning sign flashing. He my become what he is projected to be in the next year or two, but I am glad he is off this team. Admittedly, the circumstances and late timing have left us a little thin at QB, but if we keep Fromm healthy the backups have some time to get prepared and Kirby has some time to start sniffing another QB recruit. I am very comfortable with us having State Farm at QB for another 1-2 years, he has exceeded all expectations thus far.
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The transfer rumors started around the 3rd or 4th game. I’m learning that rumors don’t come from nowhere.
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We dodged a mortar attack by Fields leaving. Didn’t see that he could read a defense to get out of one play to another. In High school his athletic abilities could take over if his first receiver was covered , he could take off and run. In college he had people that were a lot bigger that could run him down. If the truth was known he was probably scared at times. It is sad that I think the people that had his best interests at heart was giving him very bad info to make themselves look good. I watched a lot of his High School games and told everyone that would listen that he would never start at QB for the University of Georgia
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Noticed similar body language. He and Fromm rarely interacted after a big play or crap play. And knowing what I’ve seen from Fromm I would guess the attitude came from Fields. No way of knowing for sure but body language was there all year saying bad attitude.
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I hope Coley can coax him to air it out more down the field. Fromm throws the ball outside the numbers probably better than anyone in CFB right now, but he doesn’t have enough gunslinger in him. What separates Tua and Trevor from Jake right now are the big plays down the field. They hit those plays and Jake hasn’t. I say let it loose and let DRob go get it. When he can do that on a regular basis, then he will be hyped as a first rounder.
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This season will be very interesting for Fromm. I just hope he can establish some timing with a pretty much all new receiver’s group. Needs to be working on that right now and all through the spring and summer.
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With a healthy Fromm, we will be playing Clemson next January.
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Chaney was reluctant to throw the ball down the middle of the field. The tight ends were never used enough.he loved those sideline passes deep and short which is the hardest pass to complete because the sideline is the ally of the defense. Easy pass to defend!!!
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For 2 years there were TES on routs running wide open over the middle of the field its the QB who makes the decision on who where and when to throw the ball not the coach,
Pass plays have as many as 5 routs and others as few as 3 never have I seen a play where only outside guys are the option
Fromm avoids the middle of the field because that keeps the turnover numbers down that’s part of where the title being a game manager comes from
Last season he found the TE more and was more confident throwing over the middle hope that continues to grow this season
Blaming the coach is a farce the QB reads and decides when and where to toss the ball not the coach …..Claim we need more screens or passes to RBs instead of them staying in to block that’s on the coach however Fromm stands in the pocket a long time and without the extra pass protection it might be worse (that’s the decisions the coaches make) Not who gets the ball thrown to them
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The concern with Fromm is going to be if he’s can carry an offense without a strong ground game to set up the play action pass and one one one matchups. He’s 0-4 in every game he where he’s attempted more than 30 passes and a large part of the reason for the two bama losses was the inability to convert third downs in the 3rd and 4th quarter. Obviously this is not all on Jake’s shoulders and the number of passes attempted is a little bit of a chicken and egg statistic (did we pass more because it was a flawed game plan or because we our original game plan was taken away, got behind early, etc. Etc.) but to me that’s the biggest question about fromm’s game.
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I’m glad to see yet another analyst who recognizes Fromm’s arm strength. It’s strange to me how much more likely it is to hear an analyst on TV or the internet praise Fromm’s arm than it is to hear it from our own fans. He throws as good of a deep out route as anyone in college football, and can make it from the far hash–which is longer than that throw will be in the NFL. Does he have a Stafford arm? No, but Stafford is–at worst–in the conversation for the best arm in the NFL and is likely to be the most talented quarterback to ever come through UGA.
He may or may not pan out in the NFL, but it won’t be because he doesn’t have adequate arm strength.
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If Fromm leaves after next season he has Tua to contend with in the draft, and from what we saw at the end of the year Tua could be surpassed. If Fromm stays for his senior season it’ll be Trevor Lawrence, and Lawrence ain’t gettin surpassed.
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I love Fromm, but #2 overall prospect seems pretty high, IMO.
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I’ve seen it on more than 1 NFL mock draft…it’s not a reach.
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Me too. Not too many shortish immobile qbs that make it. Maybe he’s Brees v.2 but I wouldn’t pay a high price to find out. A little taller and tougher than Aaron but Murray had the better arm and washed out without a snap.
One thing he definitely needs to work on is going cold. Sometime he’s just off for too long a stretch in a game. If he’s firing on all cylinders in the 3rd on 1/1/19, we pull that out. His disastrous 3rd quarter ended our chances.
Not that there werent other issues but he went cold at the wrong time. Similar to the first quarter at BR. Just couldn’t hit anything.
Sometimes he struggles when the run game isn’t there. In the nfl sometimes you gotta chuck it 45 times to win. How many times do we see the top guys go 34 for 48 for 368?
Balance is really hard to achieve in pro ball. Often it’s all on the qb to move the offense.
He showed in the first half of the seccg that it’s there, it just needs to be there more and in crunch time against good teams.
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Agree with all except the tougher part. Murray was one of the toughest son of a guns I’ve ever seen at qb for UGA. I guarantee Murray wouldn’t start sliding three yards short of the marker with an SEC championship on the line.
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Good grief, i’d blocked that play from my memory. thanks for reminding me.
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You think Clowney was lying?
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If you go 34-48, you gotta have a Julio Jones somewhere to catch about a dozen of those throws.
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I think Fromm plays 2 more years and wins another 25 or so games. He’s like a coach on the field and as accurate as anyone I’ve ever seen. The velocity of his passes, height, and mobility are things I wonder about when the subject of the nfl comes up.
Call me crazy, but I don’t see Tua as a clear top nfl pick either. He’s got the arm, but he’s short and he has to learn to read defenses – which makes such a huge difference in the nfl.
But who knows with the nfl. It’s a crapshoot and so much depends on the team and coach you end up with. If Chris Miller had been drafted by Bill Walsh instead of the Falcons, he might’ve been a super bowl mvp.
But again, bottom line is I’d be really surprised if Fromm didn’t stay 2 more years.
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Don’t look now but the NFL is a copycat league and all signs point to a lot more Spread. The days of the immobile pro pocket passer are fading fast. The younger coaches are killing the old coaches and the NFL’s developmental league (college) has all but abandoned the pro style. Fromm better get out while he can.
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Sorry to disagree, but I don’t see where the top teams in the nfl have changed much at all from the pro-style offenses. Is Mahomes a spread guy? He’s more mobile, but is his offense considerably different than the offenses Brady, Brees and Goff run? Rodgers, Ryan, Luck, Stafford, Trubisky, Wentz/Foles, etc., etc. – where exactly is a successful QB and team with a spread offense/QB? I’m sure all nfl teams would love to have a more mobile and athletic QB, but the rumors of the death of the pro-style attack are greatly exaggerated.
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The title games consist of three drop-back passers and a Favre or Rodgers type of somewhat mobile gunslinger.
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2 pure drop back passers just competed for the College championship
3 of the 4 remaining teams in the NFL are pure drop back pocket passers the other is a good passer with a lil bit of mobility
Athlete’s at Qb are a dime a dozen and cover up weaknesses in teams offenses however Dan Marino types will always get the nod over Mike Vick types on teams with talent across the board. AL and even CLM are a great example didn’t take long for the runner to find the bench to allow the pure passer to be the starters
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He bad
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Pick a year whatever year Fromm decides to come out he will be a 3rd round selection and will never be the 2nd QB taken,
Size and arm combo just are not what the NFL is looking for
That in no way means that he can not make it in the NFL that’s just reality
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yo. he’s staying 4 years. he told Fields this. that’s why Fields left. it’s obvious.
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