Georgia quarterback Justin Fields is transferring to Ohio State.
The former five-star recruit officially announced his transfer Friday night on Twitter.
Jeremiah 29:11... pic.twitter.com/7Z3j90Q305
— Justin Fields (@justnfields) January 5, 2019
Ranked as the No. 2 overall prospect in the entire recruiting class of 2018, Fields comes to Ohio State after just one season at Georgia, in which he completed 27 of 39 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns with zero interceptions, and also rushed for 266 yards and four touchdowns on 42 carries.
According to 247Sports' all-time recruit rankings (which date back to 2000), Fields is the highest-rated prospect to ever come to Ohio State.
Fields is expected to petition the NCAA for a hardship waiver that would grant him immediate eligibility in 2019. He is expected to have a case for receiving one after an incident at Georgia this fall in which a Bulldogs baseball player was dismissed from the team after shouting racist remarks toward Fields.
If Dwayne Haskins declares for the NFL draft and Fields is eligible to play in 2019, Fields will immediately become the favorite to take over for Haskins as Ohio State's starting quarterback next season.
Haskins has not yet announced whether he will enter the 2019 NFL draft, but he is friends with Fields, and told reporters on Saturday that Fields was waiting to see whether Haskins would leave for the NFL before making his decision.
While Tate Martell and Matthew Baldwin are also potential candidates to start at quarterback for Ohio State next season, Fields isn't coming to the Buckeyes to be a backup, and he offers elite potential as both a passer and a runner.
Martell has said, though, that he would not transfer out if Fields transfers in and that he fully expects to compete for and win the starting job.
“I have no doubt that I'll go out there and win the job,” Martell said Sunday at Rose Bowl media day.
Martell, who will be a redshirt sophomore next season, completed 23 of 28 passes for 269 yards and a touchdown while running for 128 yards and two scores for the Buckeyes this season.
| Rushing | Receiving | Passing | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DATE | OPP | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | CMP | ATT | PCT | YDS | TD | INT | RAT |
| Sep 1, 2018 | AUSTIN PEAY | 3 | 33 | 11.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 87.5 | 63 | 1 | 0 | 194.9 | |
| Sep 8, 2018 | @ SOUTH CAROLINA | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 167.2 | |
| Sep 15, 2018 | MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE | 3 | 31 | 10.3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 75.0 | 71 | 1 | 0 | 190.8 | |
| Sep 22, 2018 | @ MISSOURI | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Sep 29, 2018 | TENNESSEE | 5 | 45 | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 50.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 71.0 | |
| Oct 6, 2018 | VANDERBILT | 4 | 18 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 50.0 | 53 | 0 | 0 | 124.2 | |
| Oct 13, 2018 | @ LSU | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Nov 3, 2018 | @ KENTUCKY | 6 | 26 | 4.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Nov 10, 2018 | AUBURN | 5 | -12 | -2.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 100.0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 184.0 | |
| Nov 17, 2018 | MASSACHUSETTS | 7 | 100 | 14.3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 62.5 | 121 | 2 | 0 | 272.1 | |
| Nov 24, 2018 | GEORGIA TECH | 3 | 10 | 3.3 | 0 | 1 | -10 | -10.0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 66.7 | -13 | 0 | 0 | 30.3 |
| Dec 1, 2018 | ALABAMA | 3 | 6 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| 42 | 266 | 6.3 | 4 | 1 | -10 | -10.0 | 0 | 27 | 39 | 69.2 | 328 | 4 | 0 | 173.7 | ||
