The great news for Ohio State is that Justin Fields is eligible to play this year, which is bad news for the rest of the Big Ten.
Ohio State has had a strong run of quarterback play from Braxton Miller, J.T. Barrett, Cardale Jones and most recently, Dwayne Haskins. However, Georgia transfer Justin Fields might be the most talented of them all.
Fields was ruled eligible to play in 2019 for the Buckeyes after transferring from Georgia where he backed up Jake Fromm for one season. In limited duty, Fields showed off the dual-threat playmaking ability that made him the nation’s No. 2 recruit behind Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence who just shredded Alabama in the National Championship Game.
Fields has the same type of potential to do what Lawrence did and lead Ohio State to a national title.
Without Fields eligible this year, Ohio State wouldn’t be in contention to compete for a berth in the College Football Playoff. They might have even struggled to win the Big Ten in the first year without Urban Meyer.
Those are expectations foreign to many die-hard Ohio State fans who are used to competing for national titles on an annual basis. The door remains open with the NCAA’s ruling to allow Fields to play this year.
Day transformed the Ohio State offense two years ago with Barrett running the offense, using his legs to move the chains and put up points. Last year, he tailored the offense to Haskins’ strengths and let him use his big arm to make big plays down the field.
In Fields, Day has a quarterback who has the strengths that Barrett brought to the field and the skills Haskins used to be a Heisman finalist after setting program records for yards and touchdowns.
Fields is the total package, a game-breaker, a talent that could join Troy Smith as a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback from the Buckeyes.
The 6’3″, 225-pound Fields can make plays with his feet like Barrett or Miller. He can hit the perimeter and turn up the seam and use his speed to outrun defenders. He can make the tough run between the tackles to pick up three yards on third down or in the red zone. He’s bigger than both Barrett and Miller who had durability issues, but at 225 pounds, Fields is thick through his lower half and can withstand the extra pounding he’ll take as a runner.
Fields flashed as a runner at Georgia in his one year in Athens, running for 266 yards on 6.3 yards per carry and had four touchdowns. Expect Fields to have games with 100 yards on the ground and 250-plus passing yards as he grows in Day’s offense.
Few schools could lose a quarterback as prolific and as talented as Haskins and upgrade at the most important position, but that’s exactly what Ohio State has done with the addition of Fields.
Haskins led Ohio State to a Rose Bowl win in Meyer’s final game, but couldn’t crack the four-team playoff field. Fields can be the difference and in the process could keep his former school, Georgia, out of the playoff.
No pressure.