Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Justin Fields is transferring from the program and according to reports, Ohio State is the front runner to land the freshman.
Fields committed to Georgia in October of 2017 as the top high school recruit in the country despite Jake Fromm being there and holding down the starting quarterback position there.
This season as Fromm’s backup, Fields saw playing time in 12 games going 27 of 39 (69.2%) for 328 yards and four touchdown passes. He also had 42 carries for 266 yards and four rushing touchdowns.
With Fromm being there at least through next season, it’s apparent that Fields wants to get out on the field and show people he was worthy of his ranking coming out of high school.
According to Rowland’s report, Florida State and Oklahoma are the other top potential destinations for Fields who is now officially in the NCAA Transfer Pool which allows other schools to contact him and essentially recruit him.
Now with a typical NCAA transfer, the student athlete has to sit out for a year per NCAA rules. However, Fields is trying to ensure he gets immediate eligibilty.
https://www.toledoblade.com/sports/ohio-state/2018/12/18/ohio-state-the-front-runner-to-land-quarterback-justin-fields/stories/20181218099
He intends to petition the NCAA for immediate eligibility. UGASports.com reported that Fields is expected to retain Tom Mars, the attorney who helped Michigan quarterback Shea Pattersongain immediate eligibility. Mars has become a transfer whisperer, winning several waiver cases in 2018.
Patterson transfered from Ole Miss to Michigan last December and claimed that he was misled by the coaching staff at Ole Miss while they were being investigated for violations. Patterson eventually was ruled eligible to play and didn’t have to sit out for the 2018 season.
It’s been reported that Fields wanting to transfer comes from an incident in October where a Georgia baseball player used racial slurs towards Fields during the Bulldogs matchup against Tennessee.
NCAA’s transfer guidelines state this:
1. The transfer is due to documented mitigating circumstances that are outside the student-athlete’s control and directly impact the health, safety and well-being of the student-athlete.
If Ohio State lands Fields, he’ll be the favorite to be the starting quarterback for the 2019 season but that comes with the notion that Dwayne Haskins will leave school early for the NFL Draft which we should have a decision made on that in the coming weeks after the team’s Rose Bowl matchup vs Washington.
Obviously if Haskins stays in school for another year, Fields will go elsewhere.
Haskins and Fields share the same personal quarterback coach and I’d also expect Haskins to maybe reach out to Fields and pitch him on the idea of coming to Ohio State and playing under soon-to-be new head coach Ryan Day who Haskins has praised for the work he’s done for him personally.
If Fields does decide to come to Columbus, the future of Tate Martell will be in the air as well. The talented redshirt freshman from Nevada has waited patiently behind JT Barrett and Haskins during his first two seasons at Ohio State and you would think he’s getting the itch to play.
Martell could be the next big name to transfer out of Ohio State which could make it consecutive years that a Buckeyes quarterback transfers out joining Joe Burrow who left school last summer for LSU.
The Buckeyes also have a potential 4-star recruit signing early when the window to do so opens Wednesday with Dwan Mathis, who has been a hard commit with the program since June.
I’d expect Fields won’t make a quick decision in the coming days but Buckeye fans should pay attention to this one over the next few weeks.
The North Coast Sports 