With JT Daniels now eligible at Georgia, will he start over Jamie Newman?

JT Daniels being eligible immediately is massive for Georgia football.

Georgia football has not one, but two strong starting quarterbacks on its 2020 roster.

Back in January 2020, former Wake Forest Demon Deacons quarterback Jamie Newman elected to transfer to the University of Georgia to play his final college football season. He was impressive in his redshirt junior season at Wake Forest, as he was one of the most accurate passers and best deep-ball throwers in the country. He has a shot at being a first-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Adding Newman to the quarterback room to offset Jake Fromm’s early departure to the NFL would have been enough, but Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart wasn’t done hitting the transfer quarterback market hard just yet. He was able to add former USC Trojans quarterback JT Daniels to his team in May 2020. Daniels is entering his redshirt sophomore year now at Georgia.

The thought was Newman would start in 2020, while Daniels had to ride pine due to NCAA transfer rules. Newman has already graduated from Wake Forest, as Daniels was only enrolled at USC for two years. However, Daniels let it be known on Monday that the NCAA has granted him immediate eligibility for 2020. He has three years left of college ball, while Newman has only one.

“Thank you to the NCAA for granting me immediate eligibility and allowing me to play football this fall. I will not comment on the waiver or transfer, but look forward to a great 2020 season with my teammates.”

How does JT Daniels being eligible impact the UGA quarterback race?

First off, good job by the NCAA for allowing Daniels to have immediate eligibility at Georgia. The former five-star recruit from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California started as a true freshman in 2018 for USC. He was the starter for the Trojans entering last year, but tore his ACL during their Week 1 opener vs. the Fresno State Bulldogs. Kedon Slovis took over and that was it.

Knowing that Slovis has a chance to be a first-round pick himself playing in Graham Harrell’s USC offense in a few years, Daniels opted to enter the transfer portal. While we knew he’d end up somewhere good, it was a shock to the system that he transferred to Georgia in the same offseason that Newman transferred there from Wake Forest. It’s definitely a competition now.

So what does this mean for the Dawgs entering 2020? Simply put, only good things. Smart had to know the NCAA was very likely to grant Daniels immediately eligibility. The guy ripped his knee up, lost his starting job and had to transfer across the country. If Justin Fields was granted immediate eligibility upon leaving Georgia for the Ohio State Buckeyes, Daniels should get it, too.

While it might stink for Newman in some capacity, he’s a great teammate and nothing has ever been given to him. He wasn’t a five-star recruit coming out of high school like Daniels was. There was a reason Newman had to stay in-state and redshirt at a place like Wake Forest. What he did there in Winston-Salem for Dave Clawson was stupendous, so don’t count Newman out at all.

As for the Dawgs, the news of Daniels’ immediate eligibility only makes everyone on the program better. Newman will still probably beat out Daniels for the starting job, but he’ll get some playing time in 2020. Hopefully, it’s more than the gadget stuff former offensive coordinator Jim Chaney had in mind for Fields, which led to his Columbus departure in 2019.

By having two high-end college quarterbacks, one will start and the other will back him up. The backup will get a ton of reps as the practice squad quarterback. Whoever doesn’t win the job will help make the Dawgs’ No. 1 defense even better in practice. While the passing game has to get better, it will be defensive prowess that gives the Dawgs a good shot at winning it all in 2020.

If there are any losers from Daniels’ good news, it might be the other players in the Georgia quarterback room like Stetson Bennett, Carson Beck and D’Wan Mathis. Bennett should be fine as a third-stringer. Beck and Mathis may end up transferring after 2020, as five-star Brock Vandagriff from down the road in Bogart, Georgia will be on campus in presumably January 2021.

Daniels wins, Newman wins and the Dawgs win by seeing Daniels eligible to play immediately.

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