Tate Martell wanted it brought, now it appears Justin Fields will bring it.
Not long after the reports of Fields potentially transferring from Georgia first surfaced, and before it was made official that his name is in the NCAA transfer portal, speculation had Ohio State as the frontrunner for the quarterback’s transfer services. The connection between Fields and OSU, which is expected to lose starter Dwayne Haskins to the NFL, only grew at the start of the Early Signing Period after Dwan Mathis decommitted from the Buckeyes and signed with the Bulldogs.
Friday, and citing multiple sources, LettermenRow.com is reporting that Fields will be transferring to the Buckeyes. Another report has the quarterback already on the OSU campus, although it stops short of saying that the transfer has officially pulled the trigger on a move to the Buckeyes, even as it appears headed relatively quickly in that direction.
Saw the report that former 5-star #UGA QB Justin Fields is transferring to #OhioState. I can confirm that he is on the OSU campus there now. Would expect more details in the next 24 hours or so.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 4, 2019
Fields, who had also considered Florida State and Oklahoma, had officially informed the Bulldogs of his intention to move on from UGA earlier this week.
It’s expected that, once Fields’ move to OSU is official, he will seek a waiver that would grant him immediate eligibility. It’s believed that Fields will use the racist comments directed at him earlier this season combined with the new NCAA transfer rules enacted in April — “immediate eligibility may be provided to a transfer student-athlete, provided… the transfer is due to mitigating circumstances that are outside the student-athlete’s control and directly impact the health, safety and well-being of the student-athlete” — to secure the ability to play in 2019.
Fields has retained the services of Tom Mars, the Arkansas-based lawyer who has become the go-to attorney for players in waiver cases — including Michigan’s Shea Patterson last year.
Fields was rated by 247Sports.com as the No. 1 player regardless of position in the Class of 2018. He spent his true freshman season as the primary backup to sophomore starter Jake Fromm.