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A spring game should not be over-analyzed. After all, it’s just a scrimmage. But everybody had a close eye on the Ohio State spring game last weekend for mainly one reason: To see how Georgia quarterback transfer Justin Fields looked.
The jury is still out. Fields completed just 4 of 13 passes for 98 yards and a touchdown and he was sacked four times. To estimate the level of importance in the game, the other quarterback in contention for the starting nod – Matthew Baldwin – played on both the Scarlet and Gray teams. It was reported Thursday that Baldwin has entered the transfer portal and is looking to play closer to home, basically giving the job to Fields once and for all.
A further inspection of Fields’ performance is needed because he was the No. 2 overall player in the 2018 recruiting class behind only Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, who led the Tigers to the national championship this past season.
Fields sat behind Georgia QB Jake Fromm and when the former five-star did get in the game, the Bulldogs called a lot of designed runs for him. Fields finished 27 of 39 passing for 328 yards and four touchdowns and he ran 42 times for four scores as well, hardly a huge resume in one season at Georgia.
The former five-star transferred to Ohio State for a fresh start – and the opportunity to get on the field as soon as possible since Fromm looked immovable from the starting job in Athens.
However, Fields did not exactly wow anybody during the Buckeyes’ spring game and one is left to wonder whether his accuracy issues were a one-off in a near-meaningless spring game. Or, did Georgia also see those issues and didn’t want him passing much when he played last season?
We ask Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell whether he sees Fields as one of the next big stars in college football or if he might have been overrated as the No. 2 overall prospect coming out of high school?
FARRELL'S TAKE
“I believe in Fields and think he will be a star in college. I’m not overly concerned that he’s been average so far especially compared to Lawrence because to me there was a huge gap between Lawrence and Fields. I don’t expect Fields to be Lawrence but I expect him to be a very good starter for Ohio State and lead the Buckeyes into playoff contention. He can be an accurate passer. We saw how good he was in the pocket out of high school so I think he’ll be just fine.”
