Take Two: What's the best bet - Lawrence, Fields or the field?

Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network.

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Trevor Lawrence is No. 1 in the 2018 Rivals100. Justin Fields is No. 2. Both are incredibly talented five-star quarterbacks, committed to Clemson and Georgia, respectively.

Both could be stars, Heisman Trophy candidates and future first-round NFL Draft picks if their careers continue to develop.

The question posed to Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and Rivals.com Southeast Recruiting Analyst Chad Simmons - who has seen more of Lawrence and Fields over the years than probably anybody else - is would you take Lawrence, Fields or the field if betting on which one will be taken first in the NFL Draft?

It’s a difficult - and interesting - question. Lawrence has led his team to two-straight state titles and a third is a strong possibility, as well. The No. 1 overall player just passed Georgia’s Jake Fromm in career passing yards in Georgia and is closing in on the top spot - held by Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson. He’s phenomenal at every event.

Fields has really emerged in the last year as the second-best quarterback in the class, and he had an excellent summer. The five-star player has 34 total touchdowns in seven games this season and is unstoppable in many ways. And picking Georgia (he had previously been committed to Penn State) says a lot about Fields’ confidence, because Fromm is the star quarterback in Athens now.

The safe bet is to take the field. The numbers would be in your favor. But saying ‘no’ to Lawrence or Fields, based on their work already, plus what’s to come in college is difficult. Both could have long, successful NFL careers and either could be the first quarterback drafted years from now.

“The easy answer here would be to take the field, but just as I would take Tiger Woods over the field in golf when Woods was in his prime, I’m taking Lawrence and Fields here. They are just different. Lawrence has No. 1 pick written all over him, for multiple reasons. Fields looks like a future Heisman trophy winner. It’s obvious they have all the physical attributes you look for in elite quarterbacks, but what’s inside is really what separates them from the pack. They both have the mental toughness. The way they are self-driven. How they hate to lose. They both can handle adversity. It may look like a tough choice here from the outside, but when you know Lawrence and Fields like I do, inside-out, it's actually pretty easy to make this pick.”

“I’ll take the field, because it never works out that way. We’ve had three five-star quarterbacks taken No. 1 in the NFL Draft -- Matthew Stafford, Cam Newton and Jameis Winston. It’s safe to take the field, but that doesn’t mean these guys won’t pan out. If you had to choose between the two of them, you would take Lawrence, because he’s much more established as a passer, has a better feel for the passing game, better feel in the pocket and the NFL covets guys who can get rid of the ball from the pocket rather than put themselves in jeopardy running the ball.”