Could Justin Fields unseat Jake Fromm at Georgia? Kirby Smart gives his perspective.
In Kirby Smart’s two years at Georgia, a freshman quarterback has gotten the bulk of the playing time each year. Justin Fields looks to make it three in three seasons, and his new head coach isn’t about to count him out.
Smart was asked about Fields’ potential to unseat rising sophomore Jake Fromm as the Bulldogs starting quarterback. Smart left the door open for the former five-star Fields to win the role by explaining fall camp is all about open competition for all players.
“I look at it [like] can Tyson Campbell beat out Deandre Baker [at cornerback]? Yeah, I mean, Tyson Campbell could beat out Deandre Baker,” Smart said. “Can Brenton Cox or Robert Beal have a chance to start over D’Andre Walker [at linebacker]? Certainly. Could Jamaree [Salyer] work at center or Warren Ericson work at center and beat out Lamont [Gaillard]? Certainly.
“I think when you start thinking about that and when you start making it a bigger deal than it is, for me it’s all about who’s going to play with the most consistency [and] who’s going to do things naturally as a leader and understand and develop and make right decisions at every position. I think that’s the most important thing for us — are we headed toward team-oriented goals and are you working as hard as you possibly can to outcompete the other guys?”
Fields arrived in Athens with a lot of hype, but he faces quite the challenge if he wants to start this fall.
Last season Fromm stepped in when Jacob Eason went down with an injury in the season opener and helped the Bulldogs reach the College Football Playoff national championship game. Fromm ended his true freshman season with 2,615 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
If Fields does start at Georgia, he would be the third true freshman to garner playing time in Smart’s three seasons. Eason became the starter by the second game of the 2016 season after beating out Greyson Lambert; Fromm became the starter by the second game of 2017 after Eason suffered a knee injury.
With two years under his belt, Smart has already witnessed two freshman starters take over the quarterback role. Still, he is by no means more comfortable with something like that happening.
“I think it’s an enormous challenge to do that,” Smart said. “I think that’s a burden on a lot of people because in any offensive system the guy who’s got to have the most information or the capacity for the most information is the quarterback position, so that’s not easy. Is it the norm? I think it’s happened more often, and the main reason it’s happened more often is because more kids come in prepared.”
Smart credited high school coaches along with game preparation and 7-on-7 drills for the reasons freshmen are more apt to compete today. He said the occurrences of freshman quarterbacks playing will likely increase thanks to the threat of transferring, adding there aren’t many guys such as former Georgia quarterback Hutson Mason or Alabama’s A.J. McCarron willing to wait their turn to play.
“The kids come in more prepared, but never would I say that you’re more comfortable with it,” Smart said. “I think any head coach that tells you they’re comfortable with that isn’t going to be telling you the truth. Experience is valuable, and I think experience pays off.”
Fields will have quite the battle to become the Bulldogs starter, but his head coach is by no means counting him out.
“You guys have a depth chart, but we don’t have a depth chart because every guy is getting the same reps,” Smart said. “I mean, our ones, twos, threes and fours are going to get the same number of reps at practice, and we’re going to evaluate them and say, ‘Who’s doing the best job of competing to the standard we want?’ We’ll make decisions from there who plays.”
This story was originally published August 3, 2018 at 2:29 PM.