We all know that Jake Fromm chased off two five-star quarterbacks from Athens. You’d figure something like that might clue people in to his talent level, but we’ve been treated to observations about throwing slant passes and similar nonsense.
This is not said to knock Eason or Fields. (The latter in particular, is having a stellar season and is routinely included in Heisman talk.) But I want to show you a couple of Fromm’s plays from Saturday night and ask a question.
First, here’s his touchdown throw to Cager.
From the pre-snap read through the timing of the throw to putting the ball right on the money, that is spectacular.
All in all, football is a game of inches and milliseconds. This entire play happens in the span of 2 and a half seconds. Jake Fromm is an elite quarterback from coverage recognition to pinpoint accuracy. The right call was made on defense, the players were in the right position, but sometimes there is no defense for a perfect throw.
Brian Kelly’s body language says it all there.
Then there’s Georgia’s last pass from scrimmage in the game.
It wasn’t completed, but look what else happened: Fromm dropped the ball after receiving the snap, didn’t get flustered, knew he still had his protection, knew where he wanted to go with the throw and tosses it 40 yards on a rope despite not being able to get all his usual mechanics in place. To have the presence of mind to pull all of that together is pretty special.
The ease of it was even more striking, watching it unfold in front of me live, than it appears on the broadcast.
My question is this: taking off your red and black spectacles for a second, do you think either Eason or Fields could make both of those throws? Honestly, I don’t see it.
Get The Picture 
I don’t see it either. Then again I can’t see anything without my red and black spectacles.
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Conventional wisdom says just come here for the comments.
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Fromm’s a very good QB, and I’m happy he plays for UGA. He played a great game Saturday, against a defense that was better than we all thought it would be.
The fact is, we’ve had a string of great QB’s at UGA since Zeier got here (with a few exceptions of course).
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How is last one not interference? DB never turns his head and runs through the receiver.
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There was a lot of what once was called “face guarding” last weekend; I couldn’t believe it it didn’t get called much at all, but from my untrained and amateur eye, it seemed like they were letting the guys play downfield and stayed a bit out of the way downfield. I think if they’d wanted to, they could’ve called PI on that final play, but not calling it other times let that one play out the way it did, too.
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If they called the one on the Pickens play, the final play never happens because we get a first down by penalty and proceed to run out the clock.
We have to face the fact that we play against any “blue blood” program as 11 vs. 18 every week.
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They both could have made it, but nit under the same circumstances imo.
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I think Eason could have made the first back shoulder throw, as a junior or senior QB. I think that if Fields drops the ball like that, the play becomes a QB run for no gain.
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Eason’s release is slower than Fromm’s. Good chance it gets tipped.
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Eason is also about 4 inches taller which might negate the slower release when it comes to passes being tipped.
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Eason couldn’t make the first throw and Fields would have pulled the ball down and run on the second play and probably been tackled for a loss.
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He had another throw in the second or third quarter where he rolled out, threw over a defender and hit Simmons dead in the hands in the back corner of the end zone that was NFL caliber.
At this point my only complaint is our coaching staff not putting more of the game in Fromm’s hands because he is a generational QB that we are wasting
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No one on Eason’s or Fields’ schedule would have defended all three passes as well as Notre Dame did, so we’ll never know.
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You just cant stand the fact that Fields doing well huh. SMH
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*meant for Ben below
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Yes, Fields is playing well. Can we pump the brakes a bit on him until he plays a team with a pulse? His receivers don’t even have defenders in the TV screen. Let’s see his stats vs Wis, PSU and some of the better conference teams. The stats he’s raking up vs these cupcakes don’t matter. Good player, having a great start; but let’s see him play against a decent team.
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“Plays a team with a pulse”
If he plays well against a team “with a pulse” all the haters will declare that the ” team with a pulse” wasn’t any good anyway.
#hatersgonnahate
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I completely agree. The coaching staff continues to act like Fromm is a Freshmen that needs to be managed around instead of the 3rd year starter / total gamer that can carry the team to a win. Time to take the training wheels off and let the offense win a game for us rather than just not loosing it.
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I feel the same way too. I know this is probably wishful thinking but I hope the coaching staff is playing the long game with how they’re using Fromm to this point. Beating ND was always the objective of the plan last weekend but in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t an absolute must win. The must win games are ahead on the schedule because there’s a very slim chance of the Dawgs winning the SEC and not getting into the CFP. Even with a loss to ND and a loss to Aub, FU, or A&M, as long as the Dawgs win the east and beat Bama, LSU, or Aub in the SEC championship game, we’re most likely getting into the CFP.
So beating ND might ultimately just turn out to be icing on the cake. And the coaches might have felt that even though we didn’t have the lead at the half, we were in a good position to beat ND without fully unleashing Fromm. And hopefully they won’t need to put the whole game on Fromm’s shoulders at all this season and the Dawgs will still be able to come out on top in every game this year. But that won’t be the case so they might have another card to play in that game (or those games).
As I said, that’s most likely wishful thinking. But Kirby has taken the program to a level I’ve never seen in my lifetime so, I’m going to trust him until there’s a reason not to do so.
With all that said, as a fan of the game of football, it would be a damn shame if Fromm’s talents aren’t on full display at least a few times this year. I believe he’s the best QB the Dawgs have had since Green and might end up as the best ever in my book. So I hope I get to see him win the NC by absolutely torching defenses along the way. But if our only way to that NC is through running the ball by having Fromm check to the best run play, then I’ll happily take that. And then, since I’m already on the wish train with a bag full of hope, I’ll just have to hope he decides to come back for his senior year and proceeds to torch every defense through the air en route to a second straight NC! Hey, why not, right??? It’s my wishful thinking so, I can wish for anything I want! Might as well throw in a huge Powerball win for me this year whilst I’m at it!!!
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I was shocked that Fromm didn’t just fall on it as soon as the ball hit the ground. I thought it was going to be a disastrous play after that, but then to see Pickens almost come down it, wow.
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Sanford would have exploded on that catch more than on the Cager touchdown. And I don’t know about Eason (haven’t watched him in a while), but Fields would’ve tried to be the hero and relied on his legs on the last play. The guy has an unreal arm, but his field judgement still shows that he’s a first year starter without much game experience. It’s too bad that OSU doesn’t play a schedule where we’d get to see what he’s like against a legit defense more often.
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He will once the weather turns.
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How about the throw to DRob in the end zone when the DB hits his hands a second early and the throw to Simmons in the end zone that he dropped. Best 2 throws of the night IMO.
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I read a funny article from an OSU fansite that lazily compared their passing and rushing stats, concluding “Georgia was wrong about Justin Fields.” I’d like to see the follow-up when he plays Wisconsin or any other capable squad in their conference, but I digress. Eason and Fields can definitely chuck it down the field in ways Jake can’t always do but as you said, those tight window throws are not the ones you’re going to see them make, much less attempt. Fields can throw a bomb but he’s not going to attempt a pass unless his receiver is wide open, least 2 or 3 steps on his defender. If the coverage is tight, he tucks and run (which is what we saw him do anytime he got playing time against one of our conference opponents). Eason tried to throw into tight windows from time to time but his passes lacked that touch that Jake has. All 3 of those guys really good, can’t believe Georgia got commitments from them at one time.
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I think Eason can definitely make those throws because of the dime he threw to Ridley in what should have been the game winner against UT in 16. Fields doesn’t have enough experience playing qb to make those kind of throws just yet IMO. Of course, I expect some here to go with their stereotypical “he can’t read defenses” garbage though.
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The throw to Pickens could have been a disaster but instead should have been pass interference (or another sick catch).
On a somewhat unrelated subject, no ill will towards fields but I would love to see him running for his life for 4 quarters from Smith, ojulari, Johnson and Anderson as we extend the big ten’s streak of 4 years without scoring in the college football playoff.
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I don’t think you’re going to get to see it. I think Wisconsin is going to roll tOSU.
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Who exactly has Wisconsin beaten? Michigan? The same Michigan that it took OT to beat Army at home?
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That’s a fair point, but Ohio State hasn’t exactly played a who’s who so far. I do expect OSU to beat Wisconsin in a fairly close game. Their defense is actually playing like it should with all of the talent on hand, and Wisconsin probably doesn’t have enough athletes across the board to hang with them for 60 minutes. Not that it would bother me if Fields is terrible and gets them beat. I just doubt that will happen.
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LOL! True enough OSU hasn’t played anyone either. I think Fields will be fine against whomever he plays against because of his God given abilities. He’s not being asked to do what Fromm does and nor does he have to to be successful.
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I haven’t seen Fields enough this year, and like you say they haven’t played anyone. I watched Eason against BYU and he was on fire. Of course, the lost previously to Cal where he had a mediocre game.
That said, not sure if they make those throws or not. All I know is Fromm was money when we needed it. He is the best fit for what Kirby wants to do.
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Fromm reminds me a lot of Joe Montana. While he has all the tools from the neck down to be an NFL QB, there are certainly others who have stronger arms or can run faster. From the neck up, there are few if any in college football that are his equal. Montana won all the Super Bowls and made it to the HOF because he made the right call at the right time and had ice water in his veins then the moments were the biggest. Fromm seems to be following that same path.
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Well said. Montana’s backup Steve Young had a better arm and was far more gifted athletically. Montana made playing and winning look effortless.
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I haven’t been watching every play that Ohio State runs or anything, but I’ve seen a lot of receivers running wide open in that offense. Justin Fields is an incredible talent and I don’t want to take anything away from what he’s doing up there – after all, he IS hitting those receivers and making the plays. I don’t know how many throws that he’s making into tight windows like Fromm is. I think at the end of the day, Fromm is where he’s supposed to be and Fields is where he’s supposed to be, too. They’re both in the offenses that take advantage of their skill sets.
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Also, I’m sure that with another year of seasoning and coaching he’s gotten better, but only knowing what I saw of Fields last year, I shudder to think how he might have performed if he was getting heated up the way that Notre Dame was heating up Fromm with the consistent all-out blitzing that they were throwing in the first half. I am not sure if anyone is daring to do that to Ohio State this year, but if they did I think they might have some success.
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I imagine Wisconsin will blitz Fields as soon as he gets off the bus.
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Both of those guys could have made both throws…but I doubt either would have done so under the circumstances. Eason would not have prepped enough in the week leading up to the game to be prepared to make either read or play, and Fields certainly would have freaked out and tried to scramble after the mishandled snap…likely running straight into the back of our center or right guard.
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the thing about the Pickens play that I haven’t seen discussed is that Pickens had his man beat. He had outside leverage, the corner was a step behind him, and he was running free. If Fromm does not hiccup on the snap, he doesn’t under throw that ball.
remarkable he made the throw he did given the circumstances, but holy cow, he almost hit the big one there.
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Fromm is plenty talented. The coaching he is getting is suboptimal.
Until then we get the basic Fields couldnt make this pretty common back shoulder throw and that’s way better than scoring 6 TDs in a quarter. Or he just uses his legs and isnt as smart as Fromm analysis from the stands.
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That basically sums it up.
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When the play call is slow to come in from the sideline, Jake should just call his own play. What are they gonna do, bench him?!
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Fromm was awesome, but on your two clips…
– Kelly’s language was related to skepticism that Cager’s feet were in
– Fromm did drop the snap to him, which is on him and was a bad time to drop the ball. I guess you can be glass half full about what he did after, but not dropping the snap on 3rd down in your territory with the game on the line is an even BETTER way to be impressive. Just sayin’
In general though, Fromm was great, and I have been pleased with Kirby’s comments after the game about needing to get plays to Fromm faster and wanting to call more down field plays.
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