What to do with Justin Fields?
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ATHENS - This is going to be interesting.
I’m not sure anyone really thinks, for the third season in a row, that a true freshman will come into UGA and take over the starting quarterback spot from the quarterback who is returning as the starter from the season before.
(That’s a long sentence - two of those three years were long seasons).
But we should all be curious to see how Georgia develops Justin Fields over the next few months and years. If Jacob Eason can get hurt and lose his starting job to Jake Fromm, then Jake Fromm can get hurt and lose his starting job as well.
It happened last year, so its not out of the realm of possibly, although it seems even less possible than a year ago considering the team’s accomplishments with Fromm under center in 2017.
Nonetheless, without an injury happening to Fromm, how is Fields going to be used by UGA? How often is Fields going to be used by UGA? Those are the real questions. What is the plan here? I’m asking. I really don’t know how this gets handled.
I remember a talk I had with Chad Simmons after the 2011 season. He talked about what Nick Marshall could do in the wildcat for Georgia. He was right. Nick went on to win the conference at Auburn after being dismissed from Georgia. But my question back to Chad was this:
“Do you really want to take Aaron Murray out of the game? Is that ever going to be worth the trouble?”
Fields is a more accomplished prospect with a higher celling than Nick ever had. But looking back - no. It wasn’t worth the trouble to take Aaron out of the game - he was too good.
It took about ten games for Georgia to start letting Fromm make plays. For much of that time, save perhaps the Mississippi State game, Fromm was hander-offer more then he was a passer. Remember Fromm’s performance against the Vols or Gators? Me either. UGA pretty well went out of its way to not throw the ball.
Will Kirby and company decide to take Fromm out and put Fields in during moments that actually matter in games? That they are noticeably different styles of quarterbacks means there are times when playing Fields would make a lot of sense. We couldn’t really say that in 2017. But is that worth it?
Is this a redshirt season for Fields? Is Stetson Bennett, who might get praised more than any other walk-on in the country, going to function as Georgia’s backup signal caller this year? Fields already works as the No. 2 quarterback in practices that we see - I’m assuming that wouldn’t change in games this fall.
Its hard to look at Fields, and watch him throw and not tell the physical difference between him and Fromm. There was a physical difference last season between Jacob Eason and Fromm, too, but this is a little different. As efficient a runner as Fromm has been in his time at UGA, Fields is a much more gifted runner, and he’s got a bigger arm.
Both have been inconsistent at times during throwing drills this spring, but watching those alone isn’t a good way to determine who the better quarterback is. That’s like saying the best free throw shooter is going to be the best basketball player. Fields, for the record, is less consistent that Fromm, but when he nails throws he really nails them.
The future of the quarterback position at Georgia seems to be what Fields does - a combination of pure power body and a skilled arm. Comparing Fields to Deshaun Watson does’t really take into consideration that Watson wasn’t even 200 pounds going into his first season at Clemson.
UGA listed Fields at 225 this spring - 35 pounds larger than Watson at the same time in 2014. And (save the hate mail folks) the ACC isn’t the SEC in terms of week-to-week pounding. One of the best defenses in the ACC, Clemson’s, is the one Watson was never tackled by. That Watson and Fields have one or two similarities doesn’t mean folks should be so eager to tie the two of them together. The same goes for Cam Newton and Fields - much more similar than the other two mentioned above, but different enough for sure. Fields might be more mature than Newton right now.
The truth is that Justin Fields is his own person, and he’s got a circumstance that’s not like anyone, either. Its going to be curious to watch him grow, but its hard to know for sure what’s next.