If Justin Fields Transfers From Georgia, There's a Path for Him to Play Elsewhere Immediately

SI ^ | December 18, 2018 | Andy Staples

[C19fan]

If freshman quarterback Justin Fields wants to leave Georgia and transfer to another school as USA Today’s Dan Wolken reported Monday night, the former five-star recruit from Kennesaw, Ga., could use the same new NCAA transfer waiver guidelines that helped Shea Patterson play this year at Michigan after transferring from Ole Miss. And Fields might have an even stronger case than Patterson did.

In April, the NCAA’s Division I Council provided new guidance to schools regarding waivers for undergraduate transfers who felt they shouldn’t have to complete the NCAA-mandated year-in-residence before taking the field for their new team. Here are those guidelines. Read No. 1 very carefully.

[C19fan]

This whole Justin Fields saga was strange from day 1. He went to a school with an established QB who was a few plays away from winning a national title. Then he was hardly used at UGa coming in for what were Wildcat packages. The only thing Fields is famous for during his one season at UGa was the trying to convert on the horrible fake punt call.

[allendale]

Can’t blame the young man for wanting to maximize his position. Big college football programs use these kids as cogs in their money making machines. If a cog gets hurt or doesn’t work out, they get another and keep perfectly good cogs on the shelf. That means the athlete never shines and gets recognized. There are a dearth of viable QBs in the NFL these days and in the immediate future. If it is the aspiration of this young man to be on an NFL team and make the big bucks, he should transfer, choose wisely ,play and show what he has.

[nikos1121]

I agree. I’m from Chicago. Bears are showing that you don’t need a big name QB, you just need a college like game plan, with the QB doing his job, while he’s well protected, and you put your money in the best defense players.

This means players like Jalen Hurts from BAMA and others like this guy Fields, will have a areer in the NFL if they want.

I’m always thought that it’s dumb dumb dumb for a College QB to enter the draft early. Why? Because you can be a legend at your college if stay and play all four years esp if you and your program succeed.

Johnny Football could have been the greatest college QB at A & M had he stayed, no. He enters the draft and is a nobody.

Durability is the name of the game for NFL QBs.

And second your point about cogs in the wheel is also correct. The only people talking about expanding the CFL playoffs are the coaches. Keep it the way it is.

[Saltmeat]

I will never understand why players are content to go to the big time programs and sit the bench while they could be a starter at a hundred other programs. They reap what they sow and I don’t feel sorry for them.

However, I do believe that there should be a rule that if they haven’t had X number of minutes of playing time at their current school they should be allowed to transfer without any penalty whatsoever. This should especially be true for their first two years. Many of the big time programs warehouse these kids so they won’t have to compete against them. This should not happen. If they have academic problems upon graduation from high school, the JUCOs serve as the warehouse for the entire NCAA. By some miracle, after spending two years at a JUCO, they are suddenly academically eligible. We all know this isn’t so. Bet if they had to retake the SAT/ACT, they would fail to qualify again.

[Cowboy Bob]

But, will his first Semester credits transfer too?

[Hotlanta Mike]

“I will never understand why players are content to go to the big time programs and sit the bench while they could be a starter at a hundred other programs.”

The other programs don’t have the mega boosters greasing the palms of underprivileged kids who have top athletic talent.

[WASCWatch]

If he wants to lead the nation in passing, he will go to WAZZU.